Questions & Answers about Ég hlusta á píanóið í kvöld.
Why do you say hlusta á instead of just hlusta for “listen”?
In Icelandic, the verb hlusta (to listen) normally needs the preposition á plus an object:
- hlusta á tónlist – listen to music
- hlusta á þig – listen to you
- hlusta á píanóið – listen to the piano
So hlusta á together means “to listen to (something)”.
If you say just hlusta with no á, it usually means simply “to be listening” in a very general sense, with no stated object, and would sound incomplete here.
There is another verb, heyra, which means “to hear” (a more passive sense):
- Ég heyri píanóið. – I hear the piano.
- Ég hlusta á píanóið. – I (actively) listen to the piano.
What case is píanóið in, and how can I tell?