Hann leit ruglaður á skjáinn og fann ekki hvaða flipa hann átti að opna.

Leit is the past tense of líta.

In this sentence, it is part of líta á + object, which means to look at. So:

• hann leit á skjáinn = he looked at the screen

The verb líta can also mean look, appear, or seem in other contexts, so learners often notice that it covers more than one English idea.

Ruglaður is an adjective meaning confused.

It is in the masculine singular nominative form because it describes hann and agrees with him:

• hann = masculine singular
• therefore ruglaður = masculine singular nominative

This is a predicate adjective: it tells you what state he seemed to be in.

Compare:

• Hann leit ruglaður. = He looked confused.
• Hún leit rugluð. = She looked confused.
• Þeir litu ruglaðir. = They looked confused.

It means confused, not confusing.

So hann leit ruglaður means he looked confused.

The adjective describes his state, not the effect he had on other people. A learner may expect something like English confusing, but Icelandic ruglaður here clearly means that he himself was confused.

Á often does mean on, but prepositions in Icelandic do not always match English one-for-one.

With líta á, the whole expression means look at:

• líta á e-ð = look at something

So in this sentence:

• á skjáinn = at the screen

This is something you usually just learn as part of the verb phrase líta á.

Skjáinn means the screen.

The noun is skjár = screen, and Icelandic usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun:

• skjár = a screen
• skjáinn = the screen

So the ending -inn is the attached definite article.

Also, in líta á skjáinn, the noun appears in the form required by the phrase líta á, which takes the accusative here.

Not necessarily literally.

Finna does mean find, but it can also mean something like figure out, discover, or work out, depending on context.

So:

• fann ekki hvaða flipa hann átti að opna

can be understood as:

• he couldn't figure out which tab he was supposed to open
• he did not know which tab to open

Also note the position of ekki:

• fann ekki = did not find / couldn't figure out

In a main clause, ekki commonly comes after the finite verb.

Because flipa is the accusative singular of flipi.

The verb opna takes a direct object, and that object is in the accusative:

• opna flipa = open a tab

So in the clause:

• hvaða flipa hann átti að opna

the meaning is which tab he was supposed to open, and flipa is the correct case form.

A useful detail: hvaða itself does not change form here, so the case is shown on the noun:

• flipi = nominative
• flipa = accusative

Átti að opna is from the construction eiga að + infinitive.

This construction means:

• to be supposed to
• should
• sometimes to have to

So:

• hann átti að opna = he was supposed to open
• sometimes, depending on context, he had to open

Important: this is not the ordinary meaning of eiga = own/have. In this construction, eiga að has a modal meaning.

Because eiga að + infinitive is the normal pattern.

So:

• átti að opna
• á að fara
• átti að lesa

This að is part of the infinitive construction. English often uses a different structure, such as was supposed to open, but Icelandic uses átti að opna.

Because this is an embedded question, not a direct question.

After fann ekki, the clause hvaða flipa hann átti að opna works like which tab he was supposed to open.

In embedded clauses, Icelandic usually has more normal subordinate-clause word order:

• hvaða flipa hann átti að opna

But in a direct question, you would typically get inversion:

• Hvaða flipa átti hann að opna? = Which tab was he supposed to open?

So the difference is:

• direct question: Hvaða flipa átti hann að opna?
• embedded question: ... hvaða flipa hann átti að opna

They are:

• leit → líta
• fann → finna
• átti → eiga

These are all very common verbs, and their past forms are not fully predictable from the infinitive, so they are worth memorizing early.

A quick summary of the verb forms here:

• hann leit = he looked
• hann fann ekki = he did not find / could not figure out
• hann átti að opna = he was supposed to open