Breakdown of Það er mikilvægt að djúpsteikja beikonið sem hraðast.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
að
to (infinitive marker)
mikilvægur
important
hraður
fast (adjective)
djúpsteikja
to deep-fry
beikonið
the bacon
sem
as ... as possible (with superlative)
Questions & Answers about Það er mikilvægt að djúpsteikja beikonið sem hraðast.
Why does sem hraðast mean "as fast as possible" when hraðast just means "fastest"?
In Icelandic, combining sem with a superlative word creates an absolute superlative. While it literally translates to "as fastest," this specific structure is the standard way to express doing something "as [blank] as possible." You will see this often with other words, such as sem fyrst for "as soon as possible."
Why is the superlative hraðast used here rather than a masculine adjective form like hraðastur?
Because it describes how the action of the verb djúpsteikja (to deep-fry) is performed, making it an adverb rather than an adjective. In Icelandic, the superlative form of most adverbs ends in -ast and never changes for gender or number.
Why is mikilvægt in the neuter form instead of the default masculine mikilvægur?
Does the prefix djúp- change how the verb steikja interacts with its object, beikonið?
No, compound verbs in Icelandic generally keep the exact same grammatical properties as their base verb. Because steikja (to fry) requires its direct object to be in the accusative case, djúpsteikja (to deep-fry) also takes the accusative. Beikonið is a neuter word, so its accusative form looks identical to its nominative form.
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