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Questions & Answers about Hann talar líka.
Why is the subject written as ‘Hann’?
Hann is the nominative form of the pronoun meaning he in Icelandic. In Icelandic, the subject of a sentence is typically in the nominative case, just like he in English.
What tense is the verb ‘talar’ in, and how is it formed?
Talar is the present tense of the verb tala (to speak). It follows a standard conjugation pattern for Icelandic regular verbs, where you remove the ending -a from the infinitive and add -ar for the third-person singular present tense (hann, hún, það).
How is the adverb ‘líka’ used in this sentence?
Líka means also or too and is placed after the verb in this sentence to emphasize that he, in addition to another person or action, speaks. In Icelandic, you can usually put líka either directly after the verb or sometimes at the end of the clause to convey a similar meaning.
How do I pronounce ‘Hann talar líka’?
• Hann tends to sound like “Hun” in everyday speech, with the ‘a’ slightly nasalized.
• talar is pronounced roughly as “tah-lahr”. The ‘r’ is lightly trilled.
• líka is pronounced like “lee-kah”. The stress in Icelandic often falls on the first syllable of a word, so put extra emphasis on lí.