Breakdown of Ef kolið væri mjög heitt, myndi það verða að demanti.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
mjög
very
heitur
hot
verða
to become; will be
ef
if
að
to, towards
myndu
would (plural)
kolið
the coal
demanturinn
the diamond
Questions & Answers about Ef kolið væri mjög heitt, myndi það verða að demanti.
What is the difference between using verða alone and verða að like in this sentence?
Verða on its own means to become and takes the nominative case. Adding the preposition að emphasizes a literal, physical transformation (to turn into), which is why it is used here to describe coal turning into a diamond.
Why is demanti in the dative case?
The preposition að governs the dative case here. When using the phrase verða að to describe a transformation of state, the resulting object must always take the dative case, changing the nominative demantur to the dative demanti.
Why do we use the verbs væri and myndi here?
This sentence is a hypothetical conditional expressing something unreal (If X were true, Y would happen). We use the past subjunctive væri (were) in the ef-clause, and the past subjunctive auxiliary myndi (would) alongside the infinitive verða in the main clause.
Why does the sentence use the adjective form heitt?
Adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. Because kolið (the coal) is a neuter, singular noun in the nominative case, the adjective must take the matching neuter nominative form heitt (rather than the masculine heitur).
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