Breakdown of Ég ætlast til þess að snyrtimennskan sé góð alls staðar.
vera
to be
ég
I
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
góður
good
að
that (conjunction)
alls staðar
everywhere
ætlast til
to expect (require of someone)
snyrtimennskan
the neatness
Questions & Answers about Ég ætlast til þess að snyrtimennskan sé góð alls staðar.
Why does this sentence use the subjunctive sé instead of the indicative er?
The verb sé is in the present subjunctive because of the main verb phrase ætlast til (to expect/require). Verbs that express a demand, strong wish, or expectation that someone else will do something trigger the subjunctive in the following að clause. This is called the subjunctive of volition.
Why is þess used before að?
The phrasal verb ætlast til ends with the preposition til, which always governs the genitive case. However, a preposition cannot attach directly to an að clause. To bridge the gap, Icelandic uses the genitive dummy pronoun þess (from það). You can think of til þess að here as meaning 'to the fact that'.
Could I use býst við instead of ætlast til to mean "expect" here?
Not without changing the meaning. Að búast við means to anticipate that something will happen organically (like predicting the weather). Að ætlast til implies a requirement or a standard you expect others to meet. Because this sentence is about enforcing a standard of neatness, ætlast til is the correct choice, and this sense of demanding is exactly why it triggers the subjunctive.
How does the word snyrtimennskan break down grammatically?
It comes from snyrtimennska (neatness/tidiness), which is a feminine noun. Here it has the feminine singular definite article attached. Because the noun ends in an -a, the article becomes -n (giving us -an). It is the subject of the að clause, so it is in the nominative case.
Why is alls staðar in the genitive case?
This is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'everywhere'. It comes from allur (all) and staður (place). In Icelandic, the genitive case is frequently used to form adverbs of time or place, so alls staðar literally translates to 'of every place'.
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