Question 1

Why is maður used here when the English translation says "you"?

Accepted Answer

The word maður literally means "man" or "person", but in Icelandic, it is very commonly used as the general, impersonal pronoun "one". While an English speaker usually says "you have to watch out" in a general sense, an Icelander says "one has to watch out" (maður verður að vara sig).

Question 2

Doesn't the verb verða mean "to become"? Why does it translate to "have to" here?

Accepted Answer

You're right that verða usually means "to become" or "will be". However, when it is followed by að and another verb (here, að vara), the phrase verða að changes meaning to "must" or "have to".

Question 3

Why is there a sig at the very end of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

It belongs to the verb! Að vara sig is a reflexive verb that means "to watch out" or "to beware" (literally, "to warn oneself"). Because the subject for this action is maður, which takes third-person grammar (like he/she/it), the matching reflexive pronoun is sig.

Question 4

The English translation says "It is a sign". Why does the Icelandic use Þetta (this) instead of Það (it)?

Accepted Answer

Þetta literally means "this". While English often defaults to "It is a sign" when identifying something, Icelandic strongly prefers Þetta er... ("This is...") when pointing out or naming a thing in your environment. Using það here would sound a bit unnatural to an Icelander.

Þetta er merki, svo maður verður að vara sig.

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