Breakdown of Það er verið að ræða endurbæturnar og viðhaldið í borginni.
vera
to be
og
and
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
að
to (infinitive marker)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
borgin
the city (f)
ræða
to discuss
endurbæturnar
the renovations
viðhaldið
the maintenance
Questions & Answers about Það er verið að ræða endurbæturnar og viðhaldið í borginni.
Why use Það er verið að ræða instead of a standard passive like Endurbæturnar eru ræddar?
The structure það er verið að plus an infinitive creates the continuous passive voice. It specifically means an action is actively happening right now. A standard passive like eru ræddar sounds more like a general statement of fact rather than an ongoing event.
Since endurbæturnar and viðhaldið translate as the subjects in the English sentence, why are they in the accusative case here?
In this Icelandic structure, the dummy word Það acts as the grammatical subject. The things being discussed (endurbæturnar and viðhaldið) are still treated as the direct objects of the infinitive verb ræða. Because ræða requires the accusative case, those nouns must stay in the accusative.
Could we move the objects to the front of the sentence instead of starting with Það?
Yes, if you want to emphasize what is being discussed, you can move the objects to the front: Endurbæturnar og viðhaldið er verið að ræða í borginni. When you do this, you must drop the dummy subject það. Note that the verb er remains singular because the sentence is still grammatically impersonal.
What is the base form of endurbæturnar and why does its vowel change?
The base singular noun is endurbót (a feminine word for improvement or renovation). When it becomes plural, it undergoes a vowel shift from ó to æ, becoming endurbætur. The -nar at the end is the plural definite article in the accusative case.
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