Breakdown of Kortið sannar að maðurinn er grænmetisæta.
vera
to be
maðurinn
the man
kortið
the card
að
that (conjunction)
sanna
to prove
grænmetisætan
the vegetarian
Questions & Answers about Kortið sannar að maðurinn er grænmetisæta.
Since this lesson is about hljóta að (must / logical certainty), how would we change this sentence to say 'The card proves that the man must be a vegetarian'?
You would replace er (is) with hlýtur að vera (must be). The sentence becomes: Kortið sannar að maðurinn hlýtur að vera grænmetisæta. Notice how the conjugated verb er changes to the infinitive vera (to be) because it follows hljóta að.
How does the long word grænmetisæta break down?
It is a compound word made of grænmeti (vegetables) + s (a connecting letter) + æta (eater). The word æta is related to the verb éta (to eat), which is normally used for animals but shows up in compound nouns describing what kind of eater someone is.
Why doesn't grænmetisæta take the accusative case here?
Because it follows the verb að vera (to be). This is a "linking verb," meaning it acts like an equals sign rather than an action happening to an object. Since the subject (maðurinn) is in the nominative case, the noun describing it (grænmetisæta) must also stay in the nominative case.
Can we drop the word að in Icelandic, just like we can drop 'that' in English?
No, you generally cannot. While an English speaker might naturally say "The card proves the man is a vegetarian," Icelandic requires you to keep the conjunction að to link the two clauses together.
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