Breakdown of Sjónprófið er ekki erfitt ef þú getur lesið stafina.
vera
to be
þú
you
ekki
not
lesa
to read
ef
if
geta
to be able to
erfiður
difficult
stafurinn
the letter (of the alphabet)
sjónprófið
the vision test
Questions & Answers about Sjónprófið er ekki erfitt ef þú getur lesið stafina.
How would I ask "How difficult is the vision test?" using the grammar from this lesson?
You can use either Hvað or Hversu. If you use Hversu, the adjective normally follows it directly: Hversu erfitt er sjónprófið? If you use Hvað, the adjective usually stays at the end: Hvað er sjónprófið erfitt? In both, erfitt stays in the neuter form to agree with sjónprófið.
Why is the adjective erfitt used here instead of erfiður?
Adjectives in Icelandic must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. The noun here is sjónprófið (the vision test). Since próf is a neuter noun, the adjective must take the neuter nominative form, which is erfitt.
Why does the sentence use lesið instead of the infinitive lesa after the verb getur?
The verb geta (to be able to / can) is unique in Icelandic. Unlike other helper verbs that take an infinitive, geta always requires the following verb to be in the supine form (sagnbót), which often looks like the neuter past participle. For the verb lesa, that form is lesið.
What is the root word for stafina and why is it in this specific form?
The root word is the masculine noun stafur (a letter of the alphabet). Here, it is in the accusative, plural, definite form. It is plural because you are reading multiple letters (the letters), and it is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb lesið (read).
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