Breakdown of Mér skilst að fyrirlesarinn sé alltaf mjög upplýsandi.
vera
to be
mjög
very
alltaf
always
mér
me (dative)
að
that (conjunction)
mér skilst
to understand/gather (impersonal)
fyrirlesarinn
the speaker (lecturer/presenter)
upplýsandi
informative
Questions & Answers about Mér skilst að fyrirlesarinn sé alltaf mjög upplýsandi.
Why do we use Mér skilst here instead of Ég skil?
Ég skil means "I understand" in a direct sense, like grasping a concept or a language. Mér skilst, which pairs a dative subject (mér) with the middle voice (-st), is an evidential phrase. It means "I gather," "I am under the impression," or "I hear," indicating you received this information indirectly.
Why does this sentence use the subjunctive verb sé instead of the indicative er?
The phrase mér skilst að... sets up reported information or hearsay. In Icelandic, expressing what is gathered, heard, or thought indirectly usually triggers the subjunctive mood in the following clause to reflect that it is second-hand information.
Why doesn't the adjective upplýsandi have a masculine ending to match fyrirlesarinn?
Upplýsandi is a present participle (from the verb upplýsa, "to inform"). When present participles ending in -andi are used as adjectives, they are invariable. This means their endings never change, regardless of the noun's gender, number, or case.
How is the noun fyrirlesarinn constructed?
It is built from fyrir (before) and lesari (reader), literally meaning a "fore-reader," which translates to a lecturer or speaker. As a weak masculine noun, fyrirlesari simply takes the suffix -nn to become the definite fyrirlesarinn.
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