Breakdown of Ef maður hefði séð hættumerkið, myndi maður hafa afstýrt hruninu.
maðurinn
the man
sjá
to see
hafa
to have
ef
if
myndu
would (plural)
hættumerkið
the danger sign
hrunið
the collapse
afstýra
to avert
Questions & Answers about Ef maður hefði séð hættumerkið, myndi maður hafa afstýrt hruninu.
Why does the second part of the sentence use myndi maður hafa afstýrt instead of just hefði maður afstýrt?
Both are perfectly correct and mean the same thing. While using hefði plus the supine in both clauses is very common, using myndi hafa plus the supine in the main clause is another standard way to form past counterfactuals. This longer form heavily emphasizes the conditional 'would have' aspect and is widely used in everyday speech.
Why is the verb myndi placed right after the comma, before the subject maður?
This is a classic example of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire Ef (if) clause acts as the first block of information in the sentence. Therefore, the main clause must start with its conjugated verb (myndi) to ensure the verb remains in the second position overall, pushing the subject (maður) to the other side.
Why is the word for the collapse, hruninu, in the dative case here?
The verb afstýra (to avert or steer away from) governs the dative case. In Icelandic, verbs that involve steering, controlling, or pushing something away often take a dative object. Here, hruninu is the dative form of the neuter noun hrun with the definite article attached.
How would this sentence change if the subject was við (we) instead of the generic maður?
You would need to conjugate the auxiliary subjunctive verbs to match the plural subject. The sentence would become: Ef við hefðum séð hættumerkið, myndum við hafa afstýrt hruninu. The supine forms séð and afstýrt would stay exactly the same, as supine verbs do not change for gender or number.
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