Breakdown of Sektin er há. Við minnkum hana aldrei.
vera
to be
hún
she
við
we
aldrei
never
hár
high / loudly
sektin
the fine
minnka
to reduce / to decrease (intransitive) / to reduce (something)
Questions & Answers about Sektin er há. Við minnkum hana aldrei.
Why does hana come before aldrei instead of after it?
This is the main clause object shift. When the direct object is an unstressed pronoun like hana, it moves to sit right before sentence adverbs like aldrei (never) or ekki (not). If you used the full noun instead, it would stay after the adverb: Við minnkum aldrei sektina (We never reduce the fine).
Why do we use hana (her) to mean "it"?
The word for fine, sekt, is a feminine noun. In Icelandic, you must use a pronoun that matches the grammatical gender of the noun it replaces. Therefore, we use the feminine accusative pronoun hana to mean "it".
Why is the adjective há rather than the dictionary form hár?
Adjectives must agree with the noun they describe. Because sektin is a feminine, singular noun in the nominative case, the adjective hár (high) drops the masculine -r ending and takes its feminine nominative form, há.
Could I say lækka instead of minnka to mean "reduce" here?
Yes, lækka (to lower) would be a very natural choice, especially since the fine is described as high (há). Minnka literally means "to make smaller" or "shrink," which is also perfectly correct and commonly used for reducing amounts or penalties.
Learn Sektin er há. Við minnkum hana aldrei and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free