Breakdown of Settu lykilinn í lásinn, annars opnast hurðin ekki.
ekki
not
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
hurðin
the door
lykillinn
the key
opnast
to open (by itself)
setja
to put
annars
otherwise
lásinn
the lock
Questions & Answers about Settu lykilinn í lásinn, annars opnast hurðin ekki.
Why is the verb opnast placed immediately after annars instead of the subject?
Annars (otherwise) acts as an adverbial conjunction here. Because it starts the second clause, it takes the first position. To satisfy the V2 (verb-second) rule, the verb must come next, which pushes the subject (hurðin) after the verb. This gives us the word order: annars + verb + subject + ekki.
Why does the verb opna have an -st at the end?
This is the middle voice form of the verb. While opna means "to open something" (like a person opening a door), opnast means "to open" on its own or "opens itself". It is used when an action happens without a direct object receiving the action.
Why are both lykilinn and lásinn in the accusative case?
Lykilinn (the key) is the direct object of the verb setja (to put), which triggers the accusative. Lásinn (the lock) is in the accusative because the preposition í (in/into) takes the accusative when describing movement towards a destination. If the key were already resting inside the lock, í would take the dative case instead.
How is the command settu formed from the infinitive setja?
To form a singular command, Icelandic takes the verb stem (set-) and attaches a shortened form of the pronoun þú (you). This attached ending usually becomes -du, -tu, or -ðu depending on the final consonant of the stem. For setja, it becomes settu (put!).
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