Breakdown of Skyrtan er krumpuð, svo ég vil frekar strauja hana heldur en að fara að sofa.
vera
to be
ég
I
sofa
to sleep
fara
to go
að
to (infinitive marker)
hana
her
svo
then / so (therefore)
vilja
to want (to will, be willing)
skyrtan
the shirt
frekar
rather
strauja
to iron
heldur en
rather than
krumpaður
wrinkled
Questions & Answers about Skyrtan er krumpuð, svo ég vil frekar strauja hana heldur en að fara að sofa.
Why do we use heldur en here instead of just en?
When comparing two verbs, clauses, or actions (like ironing vs. going to sleep), we must use heldur en (rather than). We use a plain en (than) when comparing nouns or adjectives, like saying one shirt is bigger than another.
The sentence uses both frekar and heldur. Isn't that redundant since they both relate to saying 'rather'?
It looks repetitive to English speakers, but it is the standard structure in Icelandic. Vil frekar expresses the preference (would rather / prefer to), while heldur en acts as the conjunction specifically required for comparing these two verb clauses.
Why is there no að before strauja, but there is an að before fara right after heldur en?
Strauja directly follows the modal verb vil (want), which always takes a bare infinitive with no að. However, the phrase after heldur en is treated as its own infinitive clause, which usually takes að to anchor it, even if the first verb lacked one.
Why are there two að words in a row in að fara að sofa?
The first að is the basic infinitive marker belonging to fara, introduced by the heldur en clause. The second að is required by the specific and very common construction fara að gera eitthvað (to go do something / to start doing something).
A quick refresher: why do we use krumpuð and hana instead of their neutral forms?
Both words must agree with skyrtan (the shirt), which is a feminine noun. Krumpuð is the feminine nominative form of the adjective, and hana is the feminine accusative pronoun for 'it' since it is being acted upon as the direct object of strauja (to iron).
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