Breakdown of Draugahúsið var nokkru skelfilegra áður.
vera
to be
áður
before (adverb)
draugahúsið
the haunted house
nokkru
somewhat (with a comparative)
Questions & Answers about Draugahúsið var nokkru skelfilegra áður.
Why do we use nokkru here instead of nokkuð?
This is the 'dative of difference.' When you use a comparative adjective like skelfilegra (more terrifying), Icelandic uses the dative case to express how much of a difference there is. Nokkru is the dative form of nokkuð, so it literally means it was more terrifying 'by some amount' or 'somewhat.'
Why does the adjective skelfilegra end in '-a'?
Even in the comparative form ('more terrifying'), adjectives must agree with the noun they describe. Since Draugahúsið is a neuter noun, the adjective takes the neuter comparative ending -a. If it were describing a masculine or feminine noun, it would end in -i instead.
What are the parts of the compound word Draugahúsið?
Could I put áður at the beginning of the sentence to emphasize 'before'?
Yes, but remember that Icelandic strictly follows the V2 rule where the verb is always the second idea in the sentence. If you start with the adverb, you must swap the subject and verb: Áður var draugahúsið nokkru skelfilegra.