Breakdown of Það er hjálplegt að glósa um málfræðina.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
að
to (infinitive marker)
um
about
málfræðin
the grammar
hjálplegur
helpful (of things)
glósa
to take notes
Questions & Answers about Það er hjálplegt að glósa um málfræðina.
Why do we start this sentence with Það?
In this sentence, Það acts as an anticipatory subject, or a placeholder. The true subject is the action itself: að glósa um málfræðina (to take notes about the grammar). Just like in English when we say 'It is helpful to...', Icelandic uses það to hold the subject's place until the actual action is revealed later.
Why is the adjective hjálplegt and not hjálplegur or hjálpleg?
When using this specific structure with the dummy subject það, the adjective that describes the delayed action must always be in the neuter singular form. Therefore, we use the neuter hjálplegt instead of the masculine or feminine forms.
Where does the word glósa come from?
The verb að glósa means to take notes. It shares the same root as the English words 'gloss' and 'glossary'. It is a very common word to use in school or university settings when talking about writing down study notes.
Why does málfræðina take the accusative case here?
The preposition um (which means 'about' in this context) always forces the noun that follows it into the accusative case. The base feminine noun is málfræði (grammar), and when you attach the accusative definite article 'the' to the end of it, it becomes málfræðina.
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