Breakdown of Læknirinn hlustar á hjartað mitt.
mitt
my
hlusta
to listen
á
to
læknirinn
the doctor
hjartað
the heart
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Questions & Answers about Læknirinn hlustar á hjartað mitt.
What does Læknirinn consist of, and why is it written as one word?
Læknirinn is made up of the noun læknir (doctor) plus the definite article suffix -inn. In Icelandic, you don’t put a separate word for “the” in front of masculine nouns—instead you attach -inn (or another article ending) directly to the noun. So læknir + inn → læknirinn means “the doctor.”
How is the verb hlustar formed, and what does it mean?
The base verb is hlusta (“to listen”). Hlustar is the 3rd person singular present tense form (comparable to English “he/she listens”). Icelandic weak verbs like hlusta typically add -ar in the present tense (ég hlusta, þú hlustar, hann hlustar, etc.).
Why is the preposition á used here, and which case follows it?
When you say “to listen to” something, Icelandic uses hlusta á. The object of á in this verb construction takes the accusative case. So you will always say hlusta á e-ð (“to listen to something”), and that something must be in the accusative.
How do you form hjartað from hjarta, and why is it the accusative?
Hjarta is a neuter noun (“heart”). To make it definite (“the heart”), you add the neuter definite article suffix -ð: hjarta + ð → hjartað. In this sentence it’s also in the accusative because it follows hlusta á, which requires the accusative. Interestingly, for neuter nouns the definite form in both nominative and accusative is identical.
Why is the possessive mitt used, and why does it come after the noun?
Mitt is the neuter singular form of “my” (Icelandic has my/mine forms that agree in gender, case, and number). Since hjarta is neuter, you use mitt. In Icelandic, possessive pronouns typically follow the noun (unlike English), so you say hjartað mitt = “my heart.”
What is the overall word order of the sentence?
This is a straightforward Subject–Verb–Object sentence in Icelandic:
- Subject: Læknirinn (“The doctor”)
- Verb: hlustar (“listens”)
- Object/prepositional phrase: á hjartað mitt (“to my heart”)
Is hlusta a strong or weak verb, and how would you conjugate it in the present tense?
Hlusta is a weak verb (Class 1). Present-tense conjugation is:
• ég hlusta
• þú hlustar
• hann/hún/það hlustar
• við hlustum
• þið hlustið
• þeir/þær/þau hlusta
How would you pronounce Læknirinn hlustar á hjartað mitt?
A rough phonetic guide (using English approximations) is:
LAYK-nih-rin HLU-star ow HYAR-tað mitt
- æ in Læk- sounds like “ay” in “say.”
- hl is a voiceless /hl/ cluster (like an “h” + “l”).
- að (ð) has a soft voiced “th” sound as in “this.”
Could you replace á with another preposition to say “listen to” in Icelandic?
No—when you talk about “listening to” something, Icelandic requires hlusta á plus the accusative object. Other prepositions (like til, í, etc.) would change the meaning and don’t pair with hlusta to express “listen to.”