Breakdown of Ýttu á hnappinn til að opna hurðina.
opna
to open
hurðin
the door
ýta á
to press
hnappurinn
the button
til að
to
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Questions & Answers about Ýttu á hnappinn til að opna hurðina.
What does Ýttu á mean and how do we form that imperative?
Ýttu á = “press (on).”
- Ýttu is the 2nd person singular imperative of að ýta (“to push/press”).
- To form it: drop the -a from ýta, add -ttu → ýttu.
- á is the preposition “on,” so ýttu á literally “push on.”
Why is the preposition á necessary here—why not just ýttu hnappinn?
In Icelandic, many actions that English expresses without a preposition require one.
- að ýta á means “to press on.”
- If you drop á, the verb ýta can mean “to lean” or “to shove,” so you need á to specify “on the button.”
Why is hnappinn spelled with -inn, and what case is it?
hnappinn is the definite singular masculine form of hnappur (“button”) in the accusative case.
- The preposition á here indicates movement onto the button, so it takes accusative.
- The suffix -inn marks both definiteness (“the button”) and the masculine singular.
What is the role of til að before opna—can’t I just say opna hurðina?
til að + infinitive is the standard way to express purpose (“in order to”).
- til = “for,” að connects to the infinitive opna (“open”).
- Ýttu á hnappinn til að opna hurðina literally “Press the button in order to open the door.”
Why is hurðina written as one word with -ina instead of having a separate article like “the”?
Icelandic marks the definite article after the noun as a suffix.
- hurð is a feminine noun (“door”).
- To make it “the door” in the accusative singular (direct object of opna), you add -ina, giving hurðina.
Could I also say Ýttu á hnappinn svo hurðin opnist instead of using til að opna?
Yes. svo að + subjunctive (opnist) expresses a similar purpose/result.
- Ýttu á hnappinn svo hurðin opnist = “Press the button so that the door opens.”
- til að
- infinitive is more common in everyday instructions; svo að
- subjunctive is slightly more formal.
- infinitive is more common in everyday instructions; svo að
How would I change the sentence if I’m telling a group of people (plural “you”)?
Use the 2nd person plural imperative for að ýta:
- ýta → ýtið (drop -a, add -tið)
- So: Ýtið á hnappinn til að opna hurðina.