Breakdown of Þrátt fyrir að ævisagan er löng hef ég lesið hana tvisvar.
vera
to be
ég
I
hún
she
lesa
to read
langur
long
hafa
to have
tvisvar
twice
þrátt fyrir að
despite the fact that
ævisagan
the biography
Questions & Answers about Þrátt fyrir að ævisagan er löng hef ég lesið hana tvisvar.
Why does this sentence use the indicative er instead of the subjunctive sé after þrátt fyrir að?
Þrátt fyrir að usually translates to "despite the fact that" or "even though." While some concessive clauses trigger the subjunctive mood in Icelandic, using the indicative er here highlights that the book's length is an absolute, stated fact. If the length were hypothetical or merely reported as someone else's opinion, you would be more likely to see the subjunctive sé.
Why is the word order hef ég (have I) instead of ég hef (I have) in the main clause?
This is a great example of the V2 (verb-second) rule in action! The entire subordinate clause (Þrátt fyrir að ævisagan er löng) acts as the first block of information in the sentence. To keep the main verb in the strictly required second position, hef must come right after the comma, which pushes the subject to the other side of the verb (hef ég).
Why do we use the pronoun hana (her) to refer to "it", and why is the adjective löng?
The noun ævisaga (biography) is grammatically feminine. Because of this, the adjective describing it must be the feminine nominative form löng (instead of the masculine langur or neuter langt). Later in the sentence, the pronoun used to mean "it" must match this gender, so we use the feminine accusative hana because it is the direct object of the verb lesið (read).
How is the word ævisagan constructed?
It is a compound word made of ævi (life or lifetime) and saga (story or history), with the feminine definite article -n attached at the end. It literally translates to "the life story."
Is tvisvar a declined form of the number two (tveir)?
No, tvisvar is a fixed adverb meaning "twice." While it clearly shares a root with tveir (two), it does not change based on gender or case. For the lowest frequencies in Icelandic, you generally just memorize the set adverbs: einu sinni (once), tvisvar (twice), and þrisvar (three times).
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