Breakdown of Ég kveiki á lampanum og slekk á honum þegar ég fer að sofa.
ég
I
fara
to go
sofa
to sleep
þegar
when
og
and
hann
him
kveikja á
to turn on
slökkva á
to turn off
lampinn
the lamp
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Questions & Answers about Ég kveiki á lampanum og slekk á honum þegar ég fer að sofa.
Why do we use the preposition á after kveiki and slekk?
Both verbs kveikja (to turn on) and slökkva (to turn off) are paired with the preposition á in Icelandic. You must say kveiki á and slekk á when indicating what you switch on or off.
Why is lampanum in the dative case?
When you use á with these verbs, the noun that follows takes the dative. The base noun lampi (lamp) becomes definite lampinn, and in the dative that is lampanum.
Why is the pronoun honum used in the second clause instead of repeating lampanum?
Once lampanum is introduced, you can replace it with the masculine personal pronoun hann. In the dative case (required by á) hann becomes honum, so slekk á honum = “I turn it off.”
What does ég fer að sofa mean, and why is there an að before sofa?
að is the infinitive particle in Icelandic. fer að sofa literally means “go to sleep.” So ég fer að sofa translates to “I go to sleep” or “I’m going to sleep.”
What is the role of og in this sentence?
og is the coordinating conjunction and, linking the two actions: “I turn on the lamp and I turn it off when I go to sleep.”
Why is þegar ég fer að sofa placed at the end rather than at the beginning?
Time clauses introduced by þegar (“when”) can come either before or after the main clause. Putting þegar ég fer að sofa at the end keeps the focus on the two actions first, then gives the time context.
Could we omit á, as in English we say “turn on the lamp” without a preposition?
No. In Icelandic, kveikja and slökkva always require á before their object. Omitting á would be ungrammatical.