Breakdown of Hún vill frekar brjóta saman fötin heldur en að strauja þau.
hún
she
þau
they (n)
að
to (infinitive marker)
vilja
to want (to will, be willing)
fötin
the clothes
frekar
rather
strauja
to iron
heldur en
rather than
brjóta saman
to fold
Questions & Answers about Hún vill frekar brjóta saman fötin heldur en að strauja þau.
Is it redundant to use both frekar and heldur en, since both can translate to "rather"?
While it might seem repetitive literally ("wants rather to fold... rather than to iron"), the pairing frekar ... heldur en is the standard way to express "would rather [X] than [Y]" in Icelandic. Frekar establishes the preference in the main clause, and heldur en introduces the alternative action.
Why is there an að before strauja but not before brjóta?
The first verb, brjóta, is driven directly by the modal verb vill (from vilja), which always takes a bare infinitive with no að. However, the second verb, strauja, comes after heldur en. When comparing two actions with heldur en, we usually include að before the second infinitive to clearly mark it as the alternative action, even if the first verb didn't need it.
Why does "to fold" translate to brjóta saman? Doesn't brjóta mean "to break"?
Yes, brjóta by itself means "to break". But when combined with the adverb saman (together), it forms a fixed phrasal verb meaning "to fold" (literally "to break together"). You will see this used for folding clothes, paper, or blankets.
Why do we use the pronoun þau for "them" at the end of the sentence?
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