Ég hlusta á tónlist.

I listen to music.

Breakdown of Ég hlusta á tónlist.

• ég: I
• hlusta: to listen
• á: to
• tónlist: the music

Questions & Answers about Ég hlusta á tónlist.

Why is the preposition á used after hlusta? Can I say Ég hlusta tónlist?

The verb hlusta (“to listen”) in Icelandic requires the preposition á before its object when you talk about sounds or music. You cannot drop it. So Ég hlusta á tónlist is correct, whereas Ég hlusta tónlist is ungrammatical.

What case is tónlist in after á?

Here tónlist is in the accusative case (the direct-object case) because hlusta á governs the accusative. For this feminine noun, nominative, accusative and dative singular all look identical (tónlist), but grammatically it’s accusative.

Why isn’t there an article before tónlist? How would I say “the music”?

Indefinite singular nouns in Icelandic appear without an article, so tónlist simply means “(some) music.” To say “the music,” you add the definite article as a suffix: tónlistin.
Example: Ég hlusta á tónlistin = “I am listening to the music.”

Why does the verb hlusta look the same as the infinitive? Shouldn’t it change for “I”?

In the present tense, first-person singular of many Icelandic verbs is identical to the infinitive form. So both the infinitive hlusta (“to listen”) and the present Ég hlusta (“I listen”) look the same. You know it’s 1st person because of the pronoun Ég (or from context).

Can I omit the subject Ég and just say Hlusta á tónlist?

Yes. Icelandic verbs are inflected for person, so the subject pronoun is often dropped in colloquial speech: Hlusta á tónlist still means “I listen to music.” Including Ég is common for emphasis or clarity.

How do you pronounce Ég hlusta á tónlist, and where does the stress fall?

A rough phonetic guide is:
• Ég /jɛː/ (“yeh”)
• hlusta /ˈl̥ʏs.ta/ (“HLUS-ta”)
• á /auː/ (“ow”)
• tónlist /ˈtoun.lɪst/ (“TOHN-list”)
Stress in Icelandic almost always falls on the first syllable of each word: HLUS-ta, TON-list.

How would I ask “Are you listening to music?” in Icelandic?

You can invert subject and verb and use the correct person ending:
• Hlustar þú á tónlist? (neutral, “Do you listen to music?”)
Or to emphasise that it’s happening right now, use the progressive construction:
• Ertu að hlusta á tónlist? (“Are you listening to music?”)

How do I express the idea “I am listening to music” if I really want the continuous sense?

Icelandic has no separate “-ing” form, but you can use vera + að + infinitive:
• Ég er að hlusta á tónlist.
This emphasises that the action is in progress right now, just like English “I am listening to music.”