Breakdown of Læknirinn hlustar á brjóst sjúklingsins.
læknirinn
the doctor
hlusta á
to listen to
sjúklingurinn
the patient
brjóstið
the chest; breast
Questions & Answers about Læknirinn hlustar á brjóst sjúklingsins.
Why does læknirinn end in -inn?
Because Icelandic usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun.
- læknir = doctor
- læknirinn = the doctor
Here læknirinn is masculine singular nominative, which fits its role as the subject of the sentence.
What form is hlustar?
Hlustar comes from the verb hlusta, meaning to listen.
In this sentence, hlustar is:
- present tense
- 3rd person singular
So it means listens.
That matches læknirinn: The doctor listens ...
Why is there an á after hlustar?
Because the normal Icelandic expression is hlusta á, which means listen to.
So this is not a literal on here. It is just the preposition that this verb normally uses.
A learner should think of it as one unit:
hlusta á = to listen to
What case is brjóst, and why does it not seem to change?