Breakdown of Ef skógurinn er blautur, gistum við ekki.
vera
to be
ekki
not
við
we
skógurinn
the forest
ef
if
gista
to spend the night
blautur
wet
Questions & Answers about Ef skógurinn er blautur, gistum við ekki.
Why is the word order gistum við instead of við gistum in the second half?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action! The entire 'if' clause (Ef skógurinn er blautur) counts as the very first piece of information in the sentence. Because the main verb must always come second, gistum has to come immediately after the comma, swapping places with the subject (við).
Does Icelandic use a future tense here like the English 'we won't spend the night'?
No, Icelandic usually uses the simple present tense for both parts of an ef (if) sentence, even when talking about the future. So gistum við ekki literally means 'we do not spend the night', but it perfectly expresses the future condition 'we will not spend the night'.
Why does the adjective have an -ur ending (blautur)?
Adjectives in Icelandic must match the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe. The word for forest, skógur, is a masculine noun. Since it is the subject of the 'if' clause, the adjective takes the standard masculine nominative ending, making it blautur.
Does gista just mean 'to sleep' in general?
Not quite! While it involves sleeping, gista specifically means to stay overnight somewhere, like pitching a tent at a campsite, staying at a hotel, or crashing at a friend's house. If you just want to talk about the physical act of being asleep, you would use the verb sofa.
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