Breakdown of Yfirvöldin leyfðu viðburðinn að því gefnu að öryggisgæslan væri strangari en í fyrra.
vera
to be
strangur
strict
viðburðurinn
the event
en
than
í fyrra
last year
leyfa
to allow (+ Dative)
að því gefnu að
assuming that
yfirvöldin
the authorities
öryggisgæslan
the security control
Questions & Answers about Yfirvöldin leyfðu viðburðinn að því gefnu að öryggisgæslan væri strangari en í fyrra.
Why does the phrase að því gefnu að use the word gefnu?
The phrase translates literally to 'to that given, that...'. The preposition að governs the dative case here, so the pronoun það becomes því. The past participle gefinn (given) must agree with því, so it takes the neuter dative singular form gefnu. It is a fixed formal phrase meaning 'given that' or 'assuming that'.
Why is the verb vera in the past subjunctive form væri instead of the regular past tense var?
The conjunction að því gefnu að introduces a condition or a hypothetical premise. In Icelandic, conditional clauses like this strongly trigger the subjunctive mood. Because the main verb leyfðu (allowed) is in the past tense, the subordinate clause uses the past subjunctive væri to match the timeframe.
Why is the word for 'the event' written as viðburðinn instead of viðburðurinn?
The verb leyfa (to allow) governs the accusative case for the thing being permitted. Viðburður is a masculine noun, and its accusative form drops the -ur ending. When you add the definite article suffix, it becomes viðburðinn.
Is í fyrra a fixed phrase for 'last year'?
Yes. It translates literally to 'in the former'. Fyrra is a comparative form, but in Icelandic, the specific prepositional phrase í fyrra is exclusively used as an everyday idiom to mean 'last year'.
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