Breakdown of Hann myndi annaðhvort hafa komið í veg fyrir skaðann eða farið.
hann
he
fara
to go
eða
or
hafa
to have
annaðhvort
either
munu
will
koma í veg fyrir
to prevent
skaðinn
the damage
Questions & Answers about Hann myndi annaðhvort hafa komið í veg fyrir skaðann eða farið.
How is the past hypothetical "would have prevented" constructed here?
We use the past subjunctive of munu, which is myndi (would), followed by the infinitive hafa (have) and the supine form of the main verb, komið. Together, myndi hafa komið creates the past hypothetical meaning.
What does komið í veg fyrir literally mean, and why is skaðann in the accusative case?
The phrase koma í veg fyrir literally translates to "come in the way for" and is the standard Icelandic idiom for "to prevent." The preposition fyrir directs the action toward an object, so it governs the accusative case here, turning skaði into the accusative definite skaðann.
Why is annaðhvort placed right after myndi instead of at the beginning of the phrase?
The sentence uses the paired conjunction annaðhvort ... eða (either ... or). In a complex verb chain like this, annaðhvort typically slots in directly after the finite (conjugated) auxiliary verb myndi. This is very similar to English, where we say "would either have" rather than "either would have."
Why is farið standing alone at the end of the sentence?
farið is the supine form of fara (to go). Just like in English, Icelandic allows you to drop the repeated auxiliary verbs (myndi hafa) in the second half of the eða clause to avoid clunky repetition. It perfectly mirrors the English structure "would either have prevented ... or gone."
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