Breakdown of Kviðdómurinn heyrði vitnið tala og efast um að það segi sannleikann.
og
and
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
tala
to speak
heyra
to hear
um
about
að
that (conjunction)
segja
to say
vitnið
the witness
sannleikurinn
the truth
efast
to doubt
kviðdómurinn
the jury
Questions & Answers about Kviðdómurinn heyrði vitnið tala og efast um að það segi sannleikann.
Why is segi in the subjunctive here instead of the indicative segir?
The phrase efast um að (doubts that) expresses doubt or uncertainty, which is exactly what triggers the subjunctive mood in the following clause. Because the jury doubts the truthfulness of the statement, we use the subjunctive segi rather than the regular indicative segir.
Why does the sentence use það (it) for a person instead of hann or hún?
Pronouns in Icelandic must match the grammatical gender of the noun they refer back to. Here, það refers to vitnið (the witness), which is a neuter noun. Even though a witness is a person, the grammatical gender of the word dictates the pronoun.
Why is tala in the infinitive rather than a conjugated verb?
Verbs of perception like heyra (to hear) and sjá (to see) are followed by an object in the accusative and then an infinitive verb without the word að. It works just like English: you hear someone do something, so we say heyrði vitnið tala.
The first verb heyrði is in the past tense. Why is segi in the present subjunctive?
The jury heard the witness in the past (heyrði), but the jury doubts the witness right now, as efast is in the present tense. Because the doubting is happening in the present, it triggers the present subjunctive segi. If the jury had doubted it in the past, we would use the past tense efaðist and the past subjunctive segði.
Can I just say efast að instead of efast um að?
No, the verb efast (to doubt) is tightly bound to the preposition um. When you are doubting an entire clause introduced by að, you must keep the preposition, making it efast um að. Leaving out the um is a very common trap for English speakers.
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