Breakdown of Hitinn er svo óþolandi að við köfnum bara.
vera
to be
bara
just / only
við
we
að
that (conjunction)
hitinn
the temperature
svo
so (to such a degree)
óþolandi
unbearable
kafna
to suffocate
Questions & Answers about Hitinn er svo óþolandi að við köfnum bara.
How does the 'svo ... að' structure work in this sentence?
This is the result clause structure you are learning in this lesson. svo (so) sits right before the adjective óþolandi (unbearable), and að (that) connects it to the result: við köfnum bara (we just suffocate). It works exactly like 'so [adjective] that...' in English.
Does the adjective óþolandi change depending on the noun?
No, it stays exactly the same. Words ending in -andi are present participles (similar to English words ending in '-ing') acting as adjectives. A great thing about them is that they are indeclinable, meaning they never change for gender, number, or case!
Wait, doesn't að usually come before an infinitive verb? Why is köfnum conjugated?
að has two main jobs. It can mean 'to' before an infinitive verb (like 'að borða'), but here it acts as a conjunction meaning 'that'. Because it introduces a full result clause with its own subject (við), the verb must be conjugated to match that subject (við köfnum).
Why does the verb kafna (to suffocate) change to köfnum here?
When conjugated for við (we), verbs in the present tense take the ending -um. This ending triggers the U-shift rule, where an 'a' in the stem of the word changes to an 'ö'. So, kafna becomes köfnum.
Why is bara placed at the end of the sentence?
bara means 'just' or 'only.' In informal Icelandic, it is very common to toss bara at the end of a statement for dramatic or casual emphasis, much like saying 'we just suffocate' in English.
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