Breakdown of Ég opna kæliklefann sem minnst til þess að maturinn sé kaldur.
vera
to be
ég
I
lítill
small / a little (small amount)
maturinn
the food
opna
to open
kaldur
cold
til þess að
so that (in order to)
sem
as ... as possible (with superlative)
kæliklefinn
the walk-in fridge
Questions & Answers about Ég opna kæliklefann sem minnst til þess að maturinn sé kaldur.
How does sem minnst translate to "as little as possible"?
The grammatical construction sem followed by a superlative adjective or adverb means "as [word] as possible". Here, minnst is the superlative adverb form of lítið (little).
Why is minnst used here instead of an inflected adjective form like minnsta?
Because it is acting as an adverb modifying the verb opna to describe how much you open the fridge. When using the sem + superlative construction as an adverb, you use the uninflected adverb form. If it were describing a noun, you would need to match the noun's gender and case.
Why does the second part of the sentence use sé instead of er?
The conjunction phrase til þess að (meaning "so that" or "in order to") expresses an intended purpose, which always triggers the subjunctive mood in Icelandic. Therefore, we use sé, the present subjunctive form of the verb vera.
What are the parts that make up the word kæliklefann?
It is a compound of the prefix kæli- (related to cooling) and klefann, which is the accusative, definite form of the masculine weak noun klefi (a small room, cabin, or cell). Together they form the word for a walk-in fridge or cold room.
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