Breakdown of Það er alveg óskiljanlegt að hreindýrið skuli standa á veröndinni.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
standa
to stand
að
that (conjunction)
alveg
completely, totally
hreindýrið
the reindeer
skulu
to shall / to promise to
óskiljanlegur
incomprehensible
veröndin
the patio
Questions & Answers about Það er alveg óskiljanlegt að hreindýrið skuli standa á veröndinni.
Why use skuli here instead of just saying að hreindýrið standi?
In Icelandic, the modal verb skulu (here in the subjunctive form skuli) is often used in að clauses to express surprise, disbelief, or strong emotion about a fact. While you could technically just use the subjunctive standi (that the reindeer stands), adding skuli emphasizes the speaker's sheer astonishment, matching the English phrase 'that it should be standing there'.
What tense and mood is skuli in this sentence?
It is the present subjunctive form of skulu for the third-person singular, matching the subject hreindýrið. Even though it is often translated with the English past-tense modal 'should', Icelandic uses the present subjunctive here to react to a situation that is currently happening (the reindeer is on the patio right now).
Why does the adjective end in -legt (óskiljanlegt)?
It is in the neuter singular form to agree with the dummy pronoun Það (It). When making general statements starting with 'It is...' using Það er, the adjective describing the situation always takes the neuter singular form.
Why is veröndinni in the dative case here rather than the accusative?
The preposition á takes the dative case when it describes a stationary location, which fits here because the reindeer is already standing on the patio. If the reindeer were walking or jumping onto the patio, showing motion to a new destination, á would take the accusative case instead.
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