Breakdown of Þessi sjónræni heimur er áþreifanlegur, eins og ég gæti snert hann.
vera
to be
ég
I
hann
he
þessi
this (m/f)
geta
to be able to
heimurinn
the world
snerta
to touch
eins og
as / like / as if
sjónrænn
visual
áþreifanlegur
tangible
Questions & Answers about Þessi sjónræni heimur er áþreifanlegur, eins og ég gæti snert hann.
Why do we use the past subjunctive gæti in this sentence?
The phrase eins og translates to "as if" when setting up a hypothetical comparison. Because you aren't actually touching the world, Icelandic requires the past subjunctive form of geta to show that this is an imaginary or counterfactual scenario.
Why is the verb snert used instead of the infinitive snerta?
The auxiliary verb geta (and its subjunctive form gæti) is special in Icelandic because it is always followed by the supine form of the main verb, not the infinitive. The supine is the same form you use after "have" (ég hef snert), so we must say gæti snert rather than gæti snerta.
Why does sjónræni end in "-i" but áþreifanlegur ends in "-ur", when both describe the same noun?
Adjectives take the weak declension when they follow a demonstrative pronoun like þessi (this), which gives us the weak masculine form sjónræni. However, áþreifanlegur stands alone after the verb er as a predicate adjective, so it must use the strong masculine nominative ending "-ur". Both match the masculine noun heimur.
Why is "it" translated as hann at the end of the sentence?
In Icelandic, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they refer back to. Because heimur (world) is a masculine noun, you have to use the masculine accusative pronoun hann (literally "him") to say "it".
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