Ég horfi á fuglinn fyrir utan gluggann.

Because horfa is normally used as horfa á, which means look at or watch.

So:

• horfa á fuglinn = look at the bird
• á here is not being translated literally as on
• it is part of the verb pattern you need to learn

A useful comparison:

• Ég sé fuglinn = I see the bird
• Ég horfi á fuglinn = I look at / am looking at the bird

The second one suggests a deliberate action.

Horfa is the dictionary form, the infinitive: to look.

In the sentence, the verb is conjugated for ég (I), so you get horfi:

• ég horfi = I look
• þú horfir = you look
• hann/hún/það horfir = he/she/it looks

So horfi is the 1st person singular present tense form.

Fuglinn means the bird.

It is made of:

• fugl = bird
• -inn = the definite article, roughly the

Icelandic usually does not use a separate word for the the way English does. Instead, the article is attached to the end of the noun.

So:

• fugl = a bird / bird
• fuglinn = the bird

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article onto the noun itself.

In English:

• the bird
• the window

In Icelandic:

• fuglinn
• gluggann

So the idea of the is still there, but it appears as an ending rather than as a separate word.

The base noun is gluggi = window.

Here it appears as gluggann, which is a declined form meaning the window in the accusative singular.

This happens for two reasons:

1. the noun is definite: the window
2. the preposition phrase requires a particular case

A rough breakdown:

• gluggi = window
• glugginn = the window (nominative)
• gluggann = the window (accusative)

So gluggann is not random; it is the grammatically correct form for this sentence.

Here fyrir utan means outside or outside of.

So:

• fyrir utan gluggann = outside the window

This is a fixed expression. Even though fyrir and utan have meanings of their own in other contexts, together here they function as the phrase outside.

Also note that fyrir utan can mean other things in other sentences, such as except for or besides, but in this sentence it is clearly about physical location.

Because Icelandic prepositions often control a specific case, and fyrir utan is normally followed by the accusative.

This is a very important part of Icelandic grammar: you often have to learn a preposition together with the case it takes.

So it is helpful to learn this as a chunk:

• fyrir utan + accusative

That is why you get gluggann, not a nominative form.

It can mean either one, depending on context.

Icelandic does not have a separate progressive form like English I am looking in the same way English does. The simple present often covers both meanings:

• Ég horfi á fuglinn = I look at the bird
• Ég horfi á fuglinn = I am looking at the bird

Context tells you which is meant.

This is a very common question.

• horfa á = look at / watch
  This is active and deliberate.
• sjá = see
  This is more about perception.

So:

• Ég horfi á fuglinn = I am intentionally looking at the bird
• Ég sé fuglinn = I see the bird

In many situations, English speakers need to resist translating both as just see or just look. Icelandic makes the distinction clearly.

Most naturally, it describes the bird:

• the bird outside the window

So the sentence is most likely understood as:

• I’m looking at the bird that is outside the window

Like English, though, a phrase like this can sometimes feel slightly ambiguous without context.

If you want to make it completely explicit, you could say:

• Ég horfi á fuglinn sem er fyrir utan gluggann
  = I am looking at the bird that is outside the window

Yes, but the original order is the most neutral and natural:

• Ég horfi á fuglinn fyrir utan gluggann.

Icelandic allows different word orders for emphasis, but it follows the verb-second rule in main clauses. That means if you move something to the front, the finite verb still stays in the second position.

For example:

• Fyrir utan gluggann horfi ég á fuglinn.

That is possible, but it is more marked or stylistic. For a learner, the original sentence is the best basic pattern to remember:

• subject + verb + object + place phrase