Við tölum um brandara í hlénu.

We talk about jokes during the break.

Breakdown of Við tölum um brandara í hlénu.

• við: we
• um: about
• tala: to talk
• brandari: the joke
• hlé: the break
• í: during

Questions & Answers about Við tölum um brandara í hlénu.

What does each individual word in Við tölum um brandara í hlénu do in the sentence?

Word by word:

• Við – we

  • 1st person plural pronoun, nominative case, the subject of the sentence.

• tölum – (we) talk / speak

  • Present tense, 1st person plural of the verb að tala (to speak, to talk).
  • This is the finite verb, agreeing with við.

• um – about

  • A preposition (and also a particle used with tala to form tala um = talk about).
  • It governs the accusative case.

• brandara – joke(s)

  • Noun from brandari (a joke).
  • Here in accusative (because of um), functioning as the object: what we talk about.

• í – in / during

  • Preposition, here indicating time (during).
  • With this static “in/during” meaning, it governs the dative case.

• hlénu – the break / the interval

  • Noun from hlé (break, intermission, pause), neuter, singular, dative definite.
  • Literally “in the break / during the break”.

So the core structure is:

• Subject: Við
• Verb: tölum
• Prepositional object: um brandara
• Time expression: í hlénu

Why is it tölum and not tala after við?

Because Icelandic verbs must agree with the subject in person and number.

The verb is að tala (to speak/talk). Present tense forms:

• ég tala – I talk
• þú talar – you (sg) talk
• hann/hún/það talar – he/she/it talks
• við tölum – we talk
• þið talið – you (pl) talk
• þeir/þær/þau tala – they talk

With við (we), you must use tölum.
The ö appears because of a regular vowel change (i‑umlaut) that happens in many Icelandic verb paradigms.

Is tala um like a phrasal verb meaning “to talk about”?

Yes.

• tala on its own means to speak / to talk.
• tala um means to talk about (something).

The preposition um is:

• semantically important (it adds the “about” meaning)
• grammatically important (it requires its object to be in the accusative case)

So:

• Við tölum um brandara – We talk about jokes.
• Við tölum um myndina – We talk about the movie. (mynd → myndina, accusative definite)

You generally learn tala um + [accusative] as a fixed pattern.

What case is brandara, and why that case?

Brandara is in the accusative case.

Reasons:

1. The noun is the object of the verb phrase tala um (talk about).
2. The preposition um specifically requires the accusative after it.

Base form of the noun:

• brandari – a joke (nominative singular, masculine)

Some key forms:

• Nominative sg: brandari
• Accusative sg: brandara
• Nominative pl: brandarar
• Accusative pl: brandara

So brandara can be either:

• accusative singular a joke, or
• accusative plural jokes,

depending on the context. Icelandic has no separate word for a, so it stays ambiguous without extra context.

Does brandara here mean “a joke” or “jokes” (one or many)?

By form alone, brandara is ambiguous: it can be accusative singular or accusative plural.

Both are grammatically possible:

• We talk about a joke during the break.
• We talk about jokes during the break.

In real usage, speakers usually resolve this ambiguity from context:

• If they normally share many jokes in the break: understood as plural.
• If they are clearly referring to one specific joke: understood as singular.

Without wider context, many learners would naturally interpret this as “We talk about jokes during the break.”

Why is there no separate word for “the” or “a” before brandara?

Icelandic handles articles differently from English:

1. No separate word for “a/an”

   • There is no indefinite article like a or an in Icelandic.
   • Bare brandari / brandara / brandarar can mean a joke / jokes depending on context.

2. “The” is usually a suffix, not a separate word

   • The definite article is attached to the noun (and often to an adjective):
     
     • brandari – a joke
     • brandarinn – the joke (nominative)
     • brandarann – the joke (accusative)
   • So:
     
     • um brandara – about a joke / about jokes
     • um brandarann – about the joke

In your sentence, brandara has no definite ending, so it is indefinite: not “the joke”, but “a joke / jokes”.

Why is it í hlénu and not just í hlé?

Í hlénu uses:

• í – preposition “in / during”
• hlénu – dative definite form of hlé (break, intermission)

Key points:

1. Case

   • With a static location or a time expression (“in/during X”), í takes the dative.
   • So we need dative singular here.

2. Definite article

   • The base noun is hlé (a break).
   • Dative singular definite is hlénu (“in the break”).
   • So í hlénu = during the break / in the break.

Using just í hlé would make it indefinite (“during a break / in a break”), and in this common classroom/theatre context the definite “the break” is more natural.

What form of the noun is hlénu, exactly?

Hlénu is:

• from the noun hlé – “break, pause, interval”
• neuter, singular
• dative, definite form

Very roughly:

• Nominative/accusative sg (indef.): hlé – a break
• Dative sg (indef.): also hlé in this declension pattern
• Dative sg (def.): hlénu – the break

So í hlénu = in/during the break.
The ‑nu ending is the attached definite article in the dative singular.

Why does í take the dative here, while um takes the accusative?

Each Icelandic preposition has its own case-governing rules:

• um

  • Almost always takes accusative.
  • So: um + [accusative] → um brandara.

• í

  • Can take accusative or dative:
    • accusative → movement into something (direction/change):
      • fara í skólann – to go to school (into the school)
    • dative → being in something, or a time expression:
      • vera í skólanum – to be at school
      • í morgun – in the morning
      • í hlénu – during the break

In your sentence, í expresses a time frame (“during”), so it uses the dative, giving hlénu.

Could the sentence also mean “We are talking about jokes during the break” (progressive), or only “We talk about jokes…”?

It can mean both, depending on context.

Icelandic does not normally use a separate continuous/progressive tense like English am talking. The simple present tölum can cover:

• habitual/general:
  • “We (usually) talk about jokes during the break.”
• currently happening (if context makes that clear):
  • “(Right now) we are talking about jokes during the break.”

So Við tölum um brandara í hlénu can be translated either way; English must choose, but Icelandic doesn’t grammatically distinguish them here.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move parts around (for example, put í hlénu at the beginning)?

The basic neutral word order here is:

• Við (subject) – tölum (verb) – um brandara (object phrase) – í hlénu (time phrase).

However, Icelandic allows flexible word order, as long as the finite verb stays in second position in a main clause (the so‑called V2 rule).

You can reorder the sentence for emphasis:

• Í hlénu tölum við um brandara.

  • “During the break, we talk about jokes.” (emphasis on during the break)

• Um brandara tölum við í hlénu.

  • “About jokes we talk during the break.” (emphasis on about jokes)

In all these, the verb (tölum) remains the second element, which is important for natural main-clause word order in Icelandic.

How would the sentence change if I wanted to say “We talk about the joke during the break”?

You would make brandari definite in the accusative:

• Við tölum um brandarann í hlénu.

Changes:

• brandara (indefinite, “a joke / jokes”)
  → brandarann (accusative singular definite, “the joke”)

Everything else stays the same:

• um still requires accusative.
• í hlénu is still “during the break”.