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

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: