Breakdown of Maður brýtur aldrei spegil, það er ógæfa.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
aldrei
never
brjóta
to break
spegillinn
the mirror
maður
one (impersonal pronoun)
ógæfan
the bad luck
Questions & Answers about Maður brýtur aldrei spegil, það er ógæfa.
Why is "maður" translated as "you" here instead of "a man"?
While maður literally means "man" or "person", it is frequently used as an impersonal pronoun. It works exactly like the generic "you" or "one" in English. You will see it a lot when stating general facts, rules, or superstitions like this one.
Which verb form do we use with the impersonal "maður"?
Even though we translate it as "you" or "one", maður is grammatically a third-person singular noun. Therefore, the verb takes the "he/she/it" form. Here, that gives us brýtur instead of the second-person "you" form.
Why does "aldrei" come after "brýtur" instead of before it like in English?
Icelandic has a strict verb-second rule in standard main clauses. The subject maður takes the first slot, so the verb brýtur must come second. Adverbs like aldrei (never) are therefore pushed to the spot immediately after the verb.
Why does the word for mirror lose an "l" to become "spegil" here?
Spegill (mirror) is the subject or dictionary form. Because the mirror is the direct object receiving the action of being broken, it changes to the accusative case. For this masculine word, that means dropping the final -l to become spegil.
How is the word "ógæfa" (bad luck) built?
It is made of the prefix ó- attached to the noun gæfa (luck or good fortune). In Icelandic, adding ó- to a word is just like adding "un-" or "mis-" in English to give it the opposite meaning.
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