Breakdown of Við horfum á sjónvarpið án hljóðs í kvöld.
við
we
í kvöld
tonight
sjónvarpið
the television
horfa á
to watch
án
without
hljóðið
the sound
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Questions & Answers about Við horfum á sjónvarpið án hljóðs í kvöld.
Why is the verb horfum in the present tense when it refers to watching TV tonight? Shouldn’t you use a future form?
In Icelandic the simple present tense often covers near-future actions if you include a time adverbial like í kvöld. You don’t need a separate future tense. For example Ég fer í bíó á morgun literally “I go to the cinema tomorrow,” but is understood as “I’m going to the cinema tomorrow.”
Why isn’t the periphrastic progressive (vera að + infinitive) used here, e.g. Við erum að horfa?
The vera að + infinitive construction is normally for actions in progress at the very moment of speaking. When you talk about planned or habitual actions—even if it’s tonight—you typically use the simple present, especially with explicit time markers like í kvöld. If you wanted to stress “we are watching right now,” you could say Við erum að horfa á sjónvarpið núna.
What case does sjónvarpið take after horfum á? I thought á takes the dative.
The preposition á can govern accusative or dative depending on meaning. With horfa á (“to look at/watch”), you have movement or direction toward the object, so it takes the accusative. sjónvarpið is the accusative singular of sjónvarp.
Why does sjónvarpið end with -ið?
The -ið ending is the definite article for neuter nouns in the nominative and accusative singular.
• sjónvarp = “a TV”
• sjónvarpið = “the TV”
How do you express “without sound”? Why is it án hljóðs?
The preposition án means “without” and always takes the genitive. hljóð (“sound”) is a neuter noun whose singular genitive is hljóðs. So án hljóðs = “without sound.” It’s the idiomatic, most common way.
Couldn’t you use an adjective like hljóðlaust instead of án hljóðs?
Yes. You could say
Við horfum hljóðlaust á sjónvarpið í kvöld.
Here hljóðlaust is an adverbial adjective meaning “soundlessly” or “without sound.” Both versions are grammatically correct, but án hljóðs is more frequently used.
Why is í kvöld placed at the end? Can it go elsewhere in the sentence?
Icelandic word order is flexible. Time adverbials like í kvöld often come after the verb phrase, but you can move them to the front for emphasis:
Í kvöld horfum við á sjónvarpið án hljóðs.
or keep them at the end:
Við horfum á sjónvarpið án hljóðs í kvöld.