Breakdown of Hún leggur áherslu á að allir skilji regluna.
hún
she
skilja
to understand
reglan
the rule
allur
all / everything / everyone
leggja áherslu á
to emphasize
Questions & Answers about Hún leggur áherslu á að allir skilji regluna.
Why is the verb skilji used here instead of the indicative skilja?
Skilji is in the subjunctive mood. In Icelandic, phrases that express importance, desire, or emphasis, like leggja áherslu á að, trigger the subjunctive in the following clause because they describe a desired outcome rather than a stated fact.
In English, the word 'everyone' takes a singular verb. Why does Icelandic use the plural skilji?
The Icelandic word for 'everyone' is allir, which is the plural masculine form of allur. Because this subject is grammatically plural, the verb must also be plural. That is why we use the third-person plural subjunctive skilji.
Why is the preposition á kept right before the conjunction að?
The phrase for 'to emphasize' is leggja áherslu á. Unlike English, where prepositions are often dropped before a 'that' clause, Icelandic strictly keeps the preposition when linking a prepositional verb to an að clause.
What dictates the grammatical case of the word áherslu in this sentence?
The verb leggja takes the accusative case for its direct object. Therefore, the nominative feminine noun áhersla changes to its accusative form áherslu.
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