Breakdown of Það er talið að bæði atvinnuleysið og skatturinn muni hækka.
vera
to be
og
and
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
að
that (conjunction)
bæði
both (bæði ... og)
munu
will
hækka
to raise / to increase
telja
to believe, to consider
skatturinn
the tax
atvinnuleysið
the unemployment
Questions & Answers about Það er talið að bæði atvinnuleysið og skatturinn muni hækka.
Why is talið in the neuter form here?
In the impersonal passive construction Það er... að..., the dummy subject Það is always neuter singular. Therefore, the past participle talið (from telja, meaning to believe or consider) must agree with it and take the neuter singular nominative form, regardless of the nouns in the following clause.
Why do we use muni instead of the indicative mun?
The verb muni is in the subjunctive mood. In Icelandic, reported speech or indirect thoughts introduced by verbs of saying, thinking, or believing (like Það er talið) trigger the subjunctive in the að clause. This shows that the statement is a reported belief rather than an absolute established fact.
How does bæði work here since atvinnuleysið is neuter and skatturinn is masculine?
When used as a fixed conjunction meaning both... and..., the phrase bæði... og... always uses the neuter plural form bæði. It acts as an invariable linking word in this grammatical structure, so you do not need to make it agree with the specific genders of the nouns it connects.
Could I use aukast instead of hækka for rise in this context?
You could use aukast (to increase) when talking about unemployment in general, but hækka (to rise or get higher) is very natural here because both unemployment and taxes are being thought of as rates or numbers. In Icelandic, measurable figures, prices, and percentages typically hækka.
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