Breakdown of Framleiðslan stoppar ef kraninn hættir að hreyfast.
að
to (infinitive marker)
hætta
to stop
stoppa
to stop (moving) / to stop (someone/something)
ef
if
hreyfast
to move
framleiðslan
the production
kraninn
the crane
Questions & Answers about Framleiðslan stoppar ef kraninn hættir að hreyfast.
Why does the sentence use stoppar in the first half but hættir in the second half? Both mean "stops".
In Icelandic, stoppa is generally used when a process or an object physically comes to a halt. However, hætta is used to indicate that someone or something ceases performing an action. Because the crane stops moving (an action), we use the terminative phrase hættir að (stops doing) followed by the infinitive verb hreyfast.
Why does the verb hreyfast (to move) end in -st?
This is the middle voice form of the verb hreyfa. While hreyfa means to move something else, adding the -st suffix often makes a verb reflexive or automatic. Here, hreyfast simply means to move itself or be in motion, which describes what the crane is doing.
Does hætta always need að after it?
When hætta is used to mean stopping a specific action, it must be followed by the infinitive marker að and the infinitive form of the action verb. If you just want to say "The crane stops/quits" without naming the specific action, you would drop the að.
What gender are the nouns framleiðslan and kraninn based on their definite endings?
Framleiðslan (the production) is feminine, which you can see from the -n ending added to the weak noun framleiðsla. Kraninn (the crane) is masculine, shown by the -nn ending added to the weak noun krani. Both are in the nominative case here because they are the subjects of their respective clauses.
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