Breakdown of Við skulum frekar nota lítið af þessu þvottaefni heldur en að skemma ullina.
lítill
small / a little (small amount)
við
we
að
to (infinitive marker)
nota
to use
þessi
this (m/f)
af
of (in quantity expressions)
frekar
rather
skemma
to ruin
skulu
to shall / to promise to
ullin
the wool
heldur en
rather than
þvottaefnið
the laundry detergent
Questions & Answers about Við skulum frekar nota lítið af þessu þvottaefni heldur en að skemma ullina.
Why is there an að after heldur en?
When you use heldur en to compare two verbs, the second verb requires the full infinitive marker að. You are comparing the action of using with damaging (að skemma). The first verb, nota, only drops its að because it directly follows the auxiliary verb skulu.
The sentence has both frekar and heldur en. Isn't that redundant?
It translates literally to 'We should rather use... rather than', but this doubling is completely natural and expected in Icelandic. The word frekar sets up the preference in the main clause, and heldur en introduces the less desirable alternative.
Why do we say lítið af þessu þvottaefni instead of just lítið þvottaefni?
To say 'a little of' a specific, defined noun (like 'this detergent'), you must use lítið af plus the dative case. The preposition af forces the demonstrative pronoun þetta and the neuter noun þvottaefni into the dative þessu þvottaefni.
Why use skulum for 'should' instead of ættum að?
Using skulum here sounds like a firm, mutual decision, similar to 'let us' or 'we resolve to'. If you used ættum að, it would sound more like general advice or a moral obligation ('we ought to').
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