Breakdown of Gögnin sem fyrir liggja hjá stofnuninni eru mikilvæg.
vera
to be
hjá
next to / at (someone's) place, with
mikilvægur
important
fyrir
in front of
sem
who / which / that
gögnin
the data
stofnunin
the institution
liggja fyrir
to be available (liggja fyrir)
Questions & Answers about Gögnin sem fyrir liggja hjá stofnuninni eru mikilvæg.
Why does the sentence use fyrir liggja instead of liggja fyrir?
This is an example of stylistic fronting, which is exactly what you are practicing in this lesson! In relative clauses starting with sem, it is very common in formal or written Icelandic to move a preposition, adverb, or particle (like fyrir) in front of the verb (liggja). In everyday spoken Icelandic, you would more likely hear normal word order: sem liggja fyrir.
What is the literal meaning of liggja fyrir, and how does it translate to 'are available'?
The phrasal verb að liggja fyrir literally translates to 'to lie before'. In Icelandic, it is heavily used to say that something (usually information, data, documents, or a decision) is already collected, at hand, or ready to be looked at.
Why does the adjective mikilvæg not have an ending like -ur or -ir?
The adjective must agree with the subject gögnin. The singular word gagn (data, document, piece of evidence) is a neuter noun. Here it is in the nominative plural form. For neuter plural nouns, the adjective mikilvægur (important) drops the masculine endings and becomes mikilvæg.
Why is the word for institution, stofnuninni, in the dative case here?
The preposition hjá (which means 'at', 'by', or 'with' in this context) always forces the following noun into the dative case. Stofnun is a feminine noun, and its dative definite form is stofnuninni.
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