ófyrirsjáanlegrar

ófyrirsjáanlegrar is the feminine form of the Icelandic adjective ófyrirsjáanlegur, meaning unforeseeable or unpredictable. The word illustrates how Icelandic adjectives change to agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun they modify. When used with feminine nouns, the form can vary depending on grammatical role in the sentence, so ófyrirsjáanlegrar may appear in contexts such as genitive or dative cases, or in certain poetic or formal constructions.

Etymology and construction: the adjective is built from the prefix ó- meaning “not” attached to fyrirsjáanlegur, which itself comes from fyrirsjá (to foresee) plus legur, a common adjective-forming element. The combination yields a term that denotes something that cannot be foreseen. In Icelandic, adjectives decline to match the noun’s gender and case, so multiple inflected forms exist for ófyrirsjáanlegur.

Usage and examples: in modern Icelandic, the more common feminine plural form is ófyrirsjáanlegar, used with feminine plural nouns such as reglur (rules) or aðstæður (circumstances). The form ófyrirsjáanlegrar appears in certain inflected contexts with feminine nouns, though it is less frequent in everyday prose and more likely in formal, literary, or archaic-style writing. The concept is widely used across disciplines to describe events, outcomes, or conditions that cannot be predicted in advance.

See also: ófyrirsjáanlegur, fyrirsjáanleiki, Icelandic adjective declension.