Question 1

Why does eftir tvo daga translate to "in two days" rather than "after two days"?

Accepted Answer

When talking about when a future event will occur, Icelandic uses eftir plus the accusative case to mean "in [amount of time]." So eftir tvo daga means "two days from now." If you wanted to say the improvement would last "for two days," you would use í tvo daga instead.

Question 2

Since this lesson is about the evaluative subjunctive, how would this sentence change if we started it with a value judgment like "It is vital that..."?

Accepted Answer

If you add a value judgment like Það er mikilvægt að (It is vital that), the main verb must shift to the present subjunctive. If you keep the intention, ætla becomes ætli (Það er mikilvægt að þau ætli að bæta...). If you drop the intention and just say "It is vital that they improve...", the verb bæta becomes the subjunctive bæti (Það er mikilvægt að þau bæti...).

Question 3

Is ætla að just "intend to", or is it the standard future tense here?

Accepted Answer

While ætla að literally means "intend to," it is the most common way to express a planned future action in Icelandic, much like "going to" in English. While the auxiliary verb munu also expresses the future, ætla að is much more natural here because improving a facility is a scheduled, intentional act.

Question 4

What is the base form of aðstöðuna and why is it in this form here?

Accepted Answer

The base word is the feminine noun aðstaða (facility or situation). It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb að bæta (to improve). Adding the accusative singular definite article to it gives us aðstöðuna.

Þau ætla að bæta aðstöðuna eftir tvo daga.

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