Breakdown of Það er mikilvægt að muna að barþjónninn hlustar bara á eitt í einu.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
bara
just / only
hlusta
to listen
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
einn
one
að
that (conjunction)
muna
to remember
mikilvægur
important
á
to/at (with verbs of perception: hlusta á, horfa á)
barþjónninn
the bartender
Questions & Answers about Það er mikilvægt að muna að barþjónninn hlustar bara á eitt í einu.
Is bara here simply meaning 'only', or is it acting as a mitigating particle?
It is doing double duty. While it translates literally to 'just' or 'only', it primarily acts as a mitigating particle to soften the sentence. Without bara, stating that the bartender hlustar á eitt í einu could sound like a harsh scolding or a rigid rule. Adding bara turns it into a polite, gentle reminder to be patient, perfectly fitting the sociolinguistic polite function you are learning.
Why is the word for 'one' in the neuter form eitt rather than einn?
Because it refers to an abstract, unspecified 'one thing' rather than a specific masculine or feminine noun. When referring to generic concepts or an unknown 'thing' in Icelandic, the default neuter gender is used. It is in the accusative case here because it is the object of the preposition á.
How does the phrase í einu translate to 'at a time'?
Í einu is a fixed idiom that translates to 'at a time' or 'at once'. It uses the preposition í followed by the dative neuter form of einn. You might also recognize this structure from the very common expression allt í einu, which means 'all of a sudden' or 'all at once'.
We see the word að twice in a row: ...að muna að... Are they doing the same thing?
No, they have entirely different grammatical functions. The first að is the infinitive marker (meaning 'to') that belongs to the verb muna. The second að is a subordinating conjunction (meaning 'that') which introduces the following clause about the bartender.
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