Questions & Answers about Ég heyri þig skýrt.
Word by word:
- Ég = I (1st person singular subject pronoun)
- heyri = hear (present tense, I hear)
- þig = you (object form, accusative case, singular)
- skýrt = clearly (adverb, from the adjective skýr = clear)
So the literal structure is: I hear you clearly.
Because þú is the subject form (nominative), and þig is the object form (accusative).
- þú = you (as the doer of the action)
- Þú heyrir mig. = You hear me.
- þig = you (as the receiver of the action)
- Ég heyri þig. = I hear you.
English uses you for both subject and object, but Icelandic changes the form:
- Nominative (subject): ég, þú, hann, hún, það, við, þið, þeir/þær/þau
- Accusative (object, for þú): þig
Here, you is the one being heard, so Icelandic uses the object form þig.
þig is in the accusative case.
With heyra:
- The thing or person you hear directly is in the accusative:
- Ég heyri þig. = I hear you.
- Ég heyri tónlistina. = I hear the music.
There is also a different construction with heyra í + dative:
- Ég heyri í þér. = I hear from you / I get in touch with you (on the phone, etc.)
So:
- Direct hearing of someone/something: heyra
- accusative (þig)
- Hearing from someone / contacting: heyra í
- dative (þér)
Heyra is the infinitive form: to hear.
Present tense (indicative):
- ég heyri = I hear
- þú heyrir = you hear
- hann / hún / það heyrir = he / she / it hears
- við heyrum = we hear
- þið heyrið = you (pl.) hear
- þeir / þær / þau heyra = they hear
Past tense (simple):
- ég heyrði = I heard
- þú heyrðir = you heard
- við heyrðum = we heard
(others are similar: heyrði / heyrðir / heyrði / heyrðum / heyrðuð / heyrðu)
Past participle:
- heyrt = heard
- Ég hef heyrt þetta. = I have heard this.
In Ég heyri þig skýrt, heyri is present tense, 1st person singular.
Skýrt is functioning as an adverb, meaning clearly.
It comes from the adjective skýr = clear. In Icelandic, a very common way to form an adverb from an adjective is:
- Use the neuter singular form of the adjective:
- skýr (masc./fem.) → skýrt (neuter) = clearly
- hægur (slow) → hægt (slowly)
- snjall (clever) → snjallt (cleverly / nicely)
So skýrt here does not agree with any noun; it just modifies the verb heyri, telling us how you hear.
The most natural and standard word order is:
- Ég heyri þig skýrt. (Subject – Verb – Object – Adverb)
Other possibilities:
- Ég heyri þig mjög skýrt. = I hear you very clearly.
(adverb intensifier mjög placed before skýrt)
Positions that are not natural:
- ✗ Ég heyri skýrt þig. – This sounds wrong/unnatural.
- ✗ Ég skýrt heyri þig. – Also unnatural in normal speech.
So in simple sentences, keep skýrt at the end, after the object.
No, it does not mean the same thing.
- Ég heyri þig. = I hear you (I can hear your voice / what you are saying).
- Ég heyri í þér. = I hear from you / I get in touch with you (e.g. by phone, message).
Examples:
Ég heyri þig skýrt.
You’re speaking on a call, and the line is clear.Ég heyri í þér á morgun.
I’ll get in touch with you tomorrow / I’ll call you tomorrow.
So to talk about audio clarity (as in your sentence), you want Ég heyri þig skýrt, not Ég heyri í þér.
A natural way to say this is:
- Ég heyri þig ekki skýrt. = I don’t hear you clearly.
Notes:
- ekki (not) usually comes after the verb in simple sentences:
- Ég heyri þig ekki. = I can’t hear you / I don’t hear you.
- Ég heyri þig ekki skýrt. = I don’t hear you clearly.
You could also use vel (well):
- Ég heyri þig ekki vel. = I don’t hear you well.
Very approximate guide (since Icelandic pronunciation varies slightly by region):
- Ég – often like “yeh” or “yei”, with a soft g that may sound like a light gh or almost disappear.
- heyri – roughly “HEY-ri”:
- hey similar to English “hey”
- ri with a rolled or tapped r, short i as in “bit”.
- þig – “thig”, but:
- þ is a voiceless th as in “think”
- final -ig often sounds like -ih with a soft gh sound; not like English “big”.
- skýrt – roughly “skyyrt”:
- ský has a long, fronted ú/ý-type vowel with rounded lips (somewhere between “skirt” and “skewed” in feel, but not the same)
- r rolled
- t clearly pronounced at the end.
Spoken more naturally, the sentence flows together something like:
- “Yeh HEY-ri thih skyyyrt.” (very rough approximation).
Modern Icelandic does not really use a special polite pronoun like German Sie or French vous. In normal contemporary usage:
- þú / þig is used for almost everyone (formal and informal).
Historically, there was a polite form þér, but today:
- þér is mainly the dative case of þú, not a separate “polite you”.
- The old very-formal pronoun system is essentially obsolete in everyday speech.
So in a polite context you would still say:
- Ég heyri þig skýrt.
Politeness is usually shown by tone, word choice, and formality of phrasing, not by switching pronouns.
It can correspond to both English forms.
Icelandic doesn’t have a separate progressive tense (am hearing) the way English does. The present tense can usually cover:
- a general fact:
- Ég heyri þig skýrt. = I (generally) hear you clearly.
- something happening right now:
- Ég heyri þig skýrt núna. = I’m hearing you clearly now.
Context (and sometimes time words like núna = now) tells you whether it’s more like simple present or present progressive in English.