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Hún tekur líka til í stofunni, því hún vill ekki sjá ryk á borðinu.

Hún tekur líka til í stofunni, því hún vill ekki sjá ryk á borðinu.
She also tidies up in the living room because she doesn’t want to see dust on the table.
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Questions & Answers about Hún tekur líka til í stofunni, því hún vill ekki sjá ryk á borðinu.

Why is tekur used here, and what form is it?

Tekur is the present tense, 3rd person singular form of the verb taka (to take).
So hún tekur = she takes / she is taking (present tense in Icelandic can cover both simple present and present continuous depending on context).

What does taka til mean, and why is til separated from tekur?

Taka til is an idiomatic verb phrase meaning to tidy up / to clean up.
In Icelandic, the particle/adverb til often appears separated from the verb in normal word order, especially when something (like líka) is inserted:

  • Hún tekur til. = She tidies up.
  • Hún tekur líka til. = She also tidies up.

This is similar to English separable phrasal verbs like clean up.

Where does líka usually go in a sentence, and could it move?

Líka (also) typically comes after the finite verb in a main clause:

  • Hún tekur líka til.

It can sometimes appear elsewhere for emphasis, but the most neutral/typical placement is exactly what you see here.

Why is it í stofunni and not í stofa or í stofu?

Because: 1) í (meaning in, location) requires the dative case for location.
2) stofunni is dative singular definite of stofa (living room).

So:

  • stofa = a living room (nominative)
  • stofu = (often accusative/dative indefinite, depending on context)
  • stofunni = in the living room (specific/known one)
Why is the living room definite (stofunni)?

Icelandic often uses the definite form when talking about a room that’s understood as part of a home or a known setting—similar to English in the living room (not just in a living room).
If you meant a non-specific living room, you might say í stofu (more like in a living room), but the definite is very common in everyday speech for “the” room in the house.

What does því do here, and how is it different from af því að?

Því here is a conjunction meaning because / since, introducing a reason clause:

  • ..., því hún vill ekki ... = ..., because she doesn’t want ...

Af því að also means because, and is very common too. Roughly:

  • því is often a bit more “connector-like” (and frequently written with a comma before it in this use)
  • af því að is a very common, straightforward because

Both can often work; choice is partly style and habit.

Why is there a comma before því?

In Icelandic, a comma is commonly used to separate clauses, especially when adding an explanation/reason:

  • Hún tekur líka til í stofunni, því ...

So the comma marks that the second part is an additional clause giving the reason.

Why does the word order stay hún vill ekki sjá after því?

After því, you still get a normal clause with:

  • subject hún
  • finite verb vill
  • negation ekki
  • infinitive sjá

Unlike some other constructions, you don’t get English-style “do-support.” Icelandic simply uses the verb vilja (to want) + infinitive:

  • hún vill ekki sjá = she does not want to see
What is sjá grammatically in vill ekki sjá?

Sjá is the infinitive (to see) governed by the modal-like verb vilja (to want).
Pattern: vilja + infinitive

  • vilja sjá = want to see
  • vilja ekki sjá = not want to see
Why is it ryk without an article, and what kind of noun is it?

Ryk (dust) is commonly treated as a mass/uncountable noun, so it often appears without an article when you mean dust in general:

  • sjá ryk = see dust

You can make it definite if you mean specific dust already mentioned/known, but the bare form is normal here.

Why is it á borðinu (with -inu) and what case is that?

Á can take:

  • accusative for motion/direction (onto)
  • dative for location (on)

Here it’s location (on the table), so it uses dative:

  • borð (table) → borðinu = on the table (dative singular definite)

The -inu is the definite ending attached to the noun.