Breakdown of Það var sagt að gjaldþrotið væri vegna verkfallsins.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
að
that (conjunction)
segja
to say
vegna
because of
verkfallið
the strike
gjaldþrotið
the bankruptcy
Questions & Answers about Það var sagt að gjaldþrotið væri vegna verkfallsins.
Why does the past participle take the form sagt here?
This sentence uses the impersonal reporting passive. Because the dummy subject is Það (which is neuter singular), the past participle of segja must also be in the neuter singular nominative form to agree with it, giving us sagt.
Why is væri (past subjunctive) used instead of the normal past tense var?
The subjunctive is triggered by the reported speech following var sagt að (it was said that). Using the subjunctive væri shows that you are reporting someone else's claim about the bankruptcy, rather than asserting it yourself as an absolute, confirmed fact.
Why does the word for the strike change to verkfallsins?
The preposition vegna (because of) always forces the noun that follows it into the genitive case. Here, verkfallsins is the genitive, singular, definite form of the neuter noun verkfall.
What are the root words inside gjaldþrotið?
It is a compound noun made of gjald (payment or fee) and þrot (depletion, lack, or exhaustion), combined with the neuter definite article -ið at the end. Literally, it means the depletion of payments.
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