Breakdown of Ríkið ætlar að innleiða helmingi strangari löggjöf. Ætlar það það?
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
að
to (infinitive marker)
ætla
to intend
strangur
strict
helmingurinn
the half
ríkið
the state
innleiða
to implement
löggjöfin
the legislation
Questions & Answers about Ríkið ætlar að innleiða helmingi strangari löggjöf. Ætlar það það?
Why are there two þaðs right next to each other in the question Ætlar það það?
The first það is the subject pronoun referring to ríkið (the state, which is a neuter noun). The second það acts as an object pronoun replacing the entire action from the first sentence (að innleiða helmingi strangari löggjöf). While English just says "Does it?", Icelandic requires this second placeholder pronoun to complete the thought.
Why does the echo question use ætlar instead of the verb gera (to do)?
Icelandic conversational echo questions mirror the specific auxiliary or modal verb used in the original statement. Because the statement uses ætlar (intends), the echo must also use ætlar. If the first sentence had lacked an auxiliary verb and just said Ríkið innleiðir löggjöf (The state implements legislation), then the echo question would use the dummy verb gera: Gerir það það?
The word helmingi means "by half", so why does helmingi strangari translate to "twice as strict"?
This is a highly idiomatic Icelandic structure. When a comparative adjective like strangari (stricter) is modified by the dative fraction helmingi (by a half), it actually means the quality is doubled. To say "half as strict", you would instead need to say helmingi minna strangur (half less strict).
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