Hún er að borða köku og hlusta á hljóðin.

She is eating cake and listening to the sounds.

Breakdown of Hún er að borða köku og hlusta á hljóðin.

• vera: to be
• borða: to eat
• hún: she
• og: and
• hlusta: to listen
• á: to
• kaka: the cake
• hljóð: the sound

Questions & Answers about Hún er að borða köku og hlusta á hljóðin.

What does Hún mean and how is it used here?

Hún is the third person singular feminine pronoun, meaning “she.” In this sentence it functions as the subject performing the actions (eating and listening).

What does the structure er að + infinitive express?

The combination er að + verb-infinitive gives a progressive meaning, indicating an action in progress right now.

• er = “is” (present tense of to be)
• að borða = “to eat” (infinitive)
  So er að borða literally means “is at eating,” i.e. “is eating.”

How would you express the simple present instead of the progressive?

You can drop er að and use the present tense of the main verb:
• Hún borðar köku.
This can mean either “she eats cake (habitually)” or “she eats a cake (right now),” but it lacks the explicit “in-progress” nuance of er að borða.

Why isn’t there a word for “a” before köku?

Icelandic has no separate indefinite article. Indefiniteness is unmarked, so köku by itself means “a cake.” Definite nouns, by contrast, take a suffix (e.g. kökuna = “the cake”).

What case is köku in and why does it look like that?

köku is the accusative singular of kaka (“cake”). As the direct object of borða (“to eat”), it must be in the accusative. Because it’s indefinite, there’s no extra ending beyond the regular accusative form.

Why is og placed between köku and hlusta?

og means “and.” It coordinates the two verb phrases er að borða köku and hlusta á hljóðin, just as “and” would in English.

Why does hlusta require the preposition á, and what case does it govern?

The verb hlusta (“to listen”) always takes á to indicate what you’re listening to. In this usage á governs the accusative case, so the noun following it must be accusative.

What form is hljóðin, and why is it definite?

hljóðin is the accusative plural definite of hljóð (“sound”). Neuter nouns form the definite plural with the suffix -in, so hljóð + in = hljóðin (“the sounds”). Here the learner hears specific sounds, hence the definite form.

How would you say “she is listening to sounds” in general (i.e. indefinite)?

Use the indefinite accusative plural without the suffix:
• Hún er að hlusta á hljóð.
That means “she is listening to sounds” in general, not particular ones.