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Questions & Answers about Slysið var slæmt.
Why is the adjective slæmt used here instead of the dictionary form slæmur?
Adjectives in Icelandic must match the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. Slysið (the accident) is a neuter, singular noun. Therefore, the adjective slæmur (bad) drops its masculine -ur ending and takes the neuter ending -t, becoming slæmt.
How can I tell from this sentence that slys is a neuter noun?
You can spot it by the definite article attached to the end of the word. The base word is slys. To say 'the accident', we add the neuter singular suffix -ið, making it slysið. For comparison, masculine nouns usually take -inn and feminine nouns take -in.
Does the verb var also change because the noun is neuter?
No. Verbs in Icelandic change based on time (tense) and who or what is doing the action, but they never change based on gender. Var is the past tense form of vera (to be) for I, he, she, and it. Since slysið is an 'it' (third-person singular), we simply use var.