Breakdown of Hann snertir skjáinn til að svara skilaboðum.
hann
he
snerta
to touch
skjáinn
the screen
til
to
Questions & Answers about Hann snertir skjáinn til að svara skilaboðum.
What is the overall meaning of Hann snertir skjáinn til að svara skilaboðum?
It means “He touches the screen to answer messages.” Here, each word contributes to the meaning: Hann means “he”, snertir is “touches”, skjáinn denotes “the screen” (with the definite article attached as a suffix), and til að svara skilaboðum expresses the purpose “to answer messages.”
What role does til að play in the sentence?
Til að is used to introduce a purpose clause. It literally means “in order to” and is followed by an infinitive—in this case, svara (“answer”). This structure explains why the subject performs the action, similar to how we use “to” in English phrases like “to answer messages.”
Why is the object written as skjáinn instead of simply skjár?
In Icelandic, the definite article isn’t a separate word; it’s attached to the noun as a suffix. Skjáinn is the definite form of skjár, meaning “the screen.” This suffix indicates that the noun is specific, much like adding “the” before a noun in English.
Why is skilaboðum in the dative case?
The verb svara governs the dative case in Icelandic. That means when you answer or reply (as with svara skilaboðum), the noun receiving the action is placed in the dative. Skilaboðum is the dative plural form of (“message”), making it grammatically correct in this context.