Breakdown of Ef þú brytir eiðinn, myndi leynifélagið drepa alla nema þig.
þú
you
brjóta
to break
allur
all / everything / everyone
ef
if
nema
except, unless
drepa
to kill
myndu
would (plural)
leynifélagið
the secret society
eiðurinn
the oath
Questions & Answers about Ef þú brytir eiðinn, myndi leynifélagið drepa alla nema þig.
Why is þig in the accusative case here instead of the nominative þú?
The word nema (except) makes the pronoun following it match the case of the group it is excluded from. Here, you are being excluded from alla (everyone). Because alla is the direct object of drepa (kill) and takes the accusative case, þig must also be accusative.
Why do we use the verb form brytir instead of the regular past tense braust?
brytir is the past subjunctive form of brjóta (to break). Conditional sentences that describe a hypothetical or unlikely situation use the past subjunctive in the ef (if) clause, usually followed by myndi plus an infinitive verb in the consequence clause.
Why is the masculine plural form alla used to mean "everyone"?
The pronoun allur (all) is used in its masculine plural form (nominative allir, accusative alla) to mean "everyone". In Icelandic, the masculine plural serves as the default gender when referring to a general, mixed, or unspecified group of people.
Why does the verb myndi come immediately after the comma?
This is a classic example of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire conditional clause starting with Ef counts as the first piece of information in the overall sentence. To keep the main conjugated verb in the second position, myndi must come right after the comma, swapping places with the subject leynifélagið.
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