Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Ýttu á hnappinn til að loka hurðinni.

ýttu á is the second-person singular imperative of að ýta á, literally “push on.” In this context it means press or push. The preposition á is required with ýta when you specify what you are pushing.

Why is it hnappinn and not hnappur?

Icelandic marks definiteness with suffixes. hnappur is the indefinite form “a button,” while hnappinn is the definite accusative singular “the button.” Because ýttu á takes an accusative object, you use hnappinn to convey “the button.”

Why is hurðinni in the dative case instead of the accusative?

The verb að loka (“to close”) governs a dative object. Thus “to close the door” becomes loka hurðinni, where hurðinni is the definite dative singular of hurð. Even though English uses the same form “the door,” Icelandic must use dative here.

What role does til að play before loka?

til að introduces a purpose clause, equivalent to in order to in English. So til að loka hurðinni literally means in order to close the door, often shortened in English simply to to close the door.

Can I say Ýttu hnappinn til að loka hurðinni without á?

No. With að ýta, the structure is always ýta á e-ð. Omitting á would be ungrammatical since á links ýta to its object.

How do I distinguish loka hurð from læsa hurð?

Use loka hurð for “close the door” and læsa hurð for “lock the door.” loka means close, whereas læsa means lock.

Could I use til þess að instead of til að?

Yes. til þess að is a slightly more emphatic or formal variant of til að. So Ýttu á hnappinn til þess að loka hurðinni is equally correct.

How is the imperative formed for verbs like ýttu?

Most Icelandic verbs form the 2nd person singular imperative by taking the verb stem and adding -u (or -tu if the stem ends in certain consonants). Irregular verbs vary (e.g. fara → farðu). For að ýta, the stem ýt- plus -tu gives ýttu.