Breakdown of Ef verkurinn er slæmur tek ég lyfið tvisvar á dag.
vera
to be
ég
I
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
dagurinn
the day (m)
taka
to take
slæmur
bad
ef
if
lyfið
the medicine
verkurinn
the pain
tvisvar
twice
Questions & Answers about Ef verkurinn er slæmur tek ég lyfið tvisvar á dag.
Why do we use á dag here instead of í dag?
In Icelandic, the prepositions used for frequency change depending on the time word. You use á with days and years (á dag, á ári), but you must use í with weeks and months (í viku, í mánuði). Also, í dag actually means today, not a day.
Does the word tvisvar change its ending depending on what you are counting?
No, tvisvar (twice) is an adverb, so it is frozen and never changes form. The same rule applies to other frequency adverbs like einu sinni (once) and þrisvar (three times).
Why does the second part of the sentence say tek ég (take I) instead of ég tek (I take)?
This is the Icelandic V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire if clause (Ef verkurinn er slæmur) counts as the first piece of information in the sentence. The main verb (tek) must take the second slot, which pushes the subject (ég) right after it.
Why is the adjective slæmur used instead of a neuter form like slæmt?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because verkur (pain) is a masculine noun, we use the masculine form slæmur. If you were describing something neuter, like the medicine (lyfið), you would use the neuter form slæmt.
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