Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Ég tengi símann við hleðslutækið.

Icelandic simple present covers both habitual and ongoing actions. So Ég tengi símann við hleðslutækið can mean either “I connect the phone to the charger (in general)” or “I’m connecting the phone to the charger (right now).”

To make the “right now” sense explicit, use the progressive-like construction: Ég er að tengja símann við hleðslutækið.

What is the verb behind tengi, and what are its key forms?

The verb is tengja “to connect.”

Present: ég tengi, þú tengir, hann/hún/það tengir, við tengjum, þið tengið, þeir/þær/þau tengja
Past (preterite): ég tengdi (“I connected”)
Supine/participle used with hafa: tengt (e.g., Ég hef tengt “I have connected”)
Past participle (adjectival): tengdur/tengd/tengt (“connected”), e.g., Síminn er tengdur “The phone is connected.”

Why does sími become símann?

Two things happen:

It’s the direct object of the verb, so it takes the accusative case: indefinite accusative singular would be síma.
It’s definite (“the phone”), and Icelandic adds the definite article as a suffix. síma + inn → símann (the sequence -a + -inn assimilates to -ann).

Why is hleðslutækið in that form, and what does the ending mean?

hleðslutæki is a neuter noun meaning “charger.” Neuter nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative singular.
The ending -ið is the suffixed definite article: hleðslutækið = “the charger.”
Here it’s accusative because the preposition við always takes the accusative.

Are both símann and hleðslutækið accusative? Why two accusatives?

Yes. símann is the direct object of tengi, and hleðslutækið is the object of the preposition við, which always governs the accusative. This pattern is typical with “connect X to Y” verbs: tengja X við Y.

What exactly does við mean here, and which case does it take?

Here við means “to/onto/against” in the sense of linking: “connect X to Y.” It always takes the accusative case. Note that við can also mean “with/by/against” in other contexts (still accusative), and it’s also the pronoun “we” in other sentences—context disambiguates.

Could I use other prepositions, like í or á, instead of við?

For “connect X to Y,” the idiomatic choice is tengja X við Y.
To express “put on charge,” Icelandic often uses a different construction: setja X í hleðslu (“put X into charging”). Example: Ég set símann í hleðslu.
You’ll also hear actions like stinga [e-u] í samband (“plug [something] in”), e.g., Ég sting hleðslutækinu í samband (“I plug the charger in”).

Is there any difference in meaning between this sentence and Ég hleð símann?

Ég tengi símann við hleðslutækið describes the physical act of connecting the phone and the charger.
Ég hleð símann means “I’m charging the phone” (focusing on the charging process, not the act of plugging it in).
Ég set símann í hleðslu means “I put the phone on charge.”

What are the genders and basic declensions of the two nouns?

sími is masculine. Singular core forms:
- Nom: sími (def.: síminn)
- Acc: síma (def.: símann)
- Dat: síma (def.: símanum)
- Gen: síma (def.: símans)
hleðslutæki is neuter. Singular core forms (identical nom/acc):
- Nom/Acc: hleðslutæki (def.: hleðslutækið)
- Dat: hleðslutæki (def.: hleðslutækinu)
- Gen: hleðslutækis (def.: hleðslutækisins)

How is hleðslutæki built morphologically?

It’s a compound:

hleðsla = “charging/charge” (noun)
Genitive linking form hleðslu-
- tæki (“device”) → hleðslutæki = “charging device,” i.e., “charger.”

How would I replace the nouns with pronouns?

Since sími is masculine, accusative singular pronoun is hann: Ég tengi hann …
hleðslutæki is neuter, accusative singular pronoun is það: … við það.
Full sentence with pronouns: Ég tengi hann við það.

What’s the typical word order? Can I move things around?

Neutral order is Subject–Verb–Object–Prepositional Phrase: Ég tengi símann við hleðslutækið.

You can front the PP for emphasis or context: Við hleðslutækið tengi ég símann, but that’s marked/contrastive and less neutral.
Don’t split the verb and its direct object with the PP in neutral speech (e.g., Ég tengi við hleðslutækið símann sounds odd).

How do I pronounce the sentence?

Approximate IPA: [jɛːɣ ˈtʰeiɲcɪ ˈsiːman vɪð ˈl̥ɛðslʏˌtʰaiːcɪð]

Ég: initial sound like English “y”; final g is a voiced fricative [ɣ].
tengi: the ng + i is realized like a palatal nasal + “ky” sound [ɲc].
við: ð is the voiced “th” in “this.”
hleðslutækið: hl- is a voiceless “l” [l̥]; main stress on the first syllable; æ like “eye”; final -ið sounds like “ith” with a soft voiced “th.”

Why is there no separate word for “the”?

Icelandic marks definiteness by a suffix on the noun (optionally also echoed on adjectives). So:

sími = phone, síminn = the phone
hleðslutæki = charger, hleðslutækið = the charger

Can I make both nouns indefinite, like “a phone to a charger”?

Yes: Ég tengi síma við hleðslutæki. That sounds generic or hypothetical. In ordinary conversation you’ll usually refer to specific items, hence the definite forms in the original sentence.

How would I say “The phone is connected to the charger” (state, not action)?

Use the adjectival participle with “to be”:

Síminn er tengdur við hleðslutækið. Here tengdur agrees with síminn (masc. sg. nom.), and við still takes the accusative (hleðslutækið).

Is there anything tricky about við since it also means “we”?

They’re homographs but different parts of speech. In this sentence við is a preposition (“to/with/against”), followed by a noun phrase in the accusative. The pronoun við (“we”) functions as a subject or object and wouldn’t be followed by a noun like hleðslutækið. Context makes it clear which is which.