Hún lætur hundinn sofa inni þegar hún er einmana.

She lets the dog sleep inside when she is lonely.

Breakdown of Hún lætur hundinn sofa inni þegar hún er einmana.

• vera: to be
• hundurinn: the dog
• hún: she
• sofa: to sleep

Questions & Answers about Hún lætur hundinn sofa inni þegar hún er einmana.

What exactly does lætur mean here, and how does this structure work?

Lætur is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb láta. In this sentence it is used in a causative construction, which is very common in Icelandic:

• láta + (accusative object) + infinitive verb

Rough meaning: to let / to have / to make (someone) do something.

So:

• Hún lætur hundinn sofa inni
  Literally: She lets / makes the dog sleep inside.

The important points:

• Hundinn is the thing being caused to do the action.
• Sofa is an infinitive (the action that the dog is doing).
• Læta here is not about physically putting the dog somewhere; it is about allowing or causing the dog to sleep inside.

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Why is it hundinn and not hundur?