Sannleikurinn er stundum erfiður, en ég vil samt heyra hann.

Because Icelandic usually adds the as a suffix to the noun instead of using a separate word.

• sannleikur = truth
• sannleikurinn = the truth

So -inn here is the definite article, attached to the noun. This is very common in Icelandic.

The dictionary form is sannleikur.

It is a masculine noun meaning truth. In this sentence it appears as sannleikurinn because it is:

• nominative
• singular
• definite: the truth

Because Icelandic adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.

Here, sannleikurinn is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must match that, giving erfiður.

Compare:

• erfiður = masculine singular nominative
• erfið = feminine singular nominative
• erfitt = neuter singular nominative

Since sannleikurinn is masculine, erfiður is the correct form.

Because sannleikur is a masculine noun in Icelandic, and pronouns often match the grammatical gender of the noun.

So:

• sannleikur is masculine
• therefore the pronoun can be hann = him/it

In English, we normally say it for something like truth, but Icelandic often uses pronouns according to grammatical gender rather than natural gender.

So heyra hann literally looks like hear him, but in good English it means hear it.

It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of heyra.

The verb heyra means to hear, and the thing being heard takes the accusative.

So:

• ég vil heyra hann = I want to hear it

This is a very useful pattern to remember: many Icelandic verbs require their object in a specific case, and heyra takes the accusative.

Because after vil (want), Icelandic normally uses the bare infinitive.

So:

• ég vil heyra = I want to hear

Not:

• ég vil að heyra

That would be incorrect here.

This is similar to English:

• I want to hear
• not I want to to hear

samt means something like:

• still
• anyway
• nevertheless

In this sentence, it shows contrast:

• The truth is sometimes difficult, but I still want to hear it.

So samt adds the idea that even though the truth can be hard, the speaker wants to hear it anyway.

stundum means sometimes, and Icelandic word order is often flexible, but some placements are more natural than others.

Here:

• Sannleikurinn er stundum erfiður

is a very normal way to say:

• The truth is sometimes difficult

You may also see stundum in other positions, depending on emphasis, for example:

• Stundum er sannleikurinn erfiður = Sometimes the truth is difficult

That version puts a little more emphasis on sometimes.

Because Icelandic usually expresses definiteness by attaching the article to the noun.

So instead of a separate word like English the truth, Icelandic says:

• sannleikurinn

This is one of the big structural differences between English and Icelandic.

This is a very common question.

• heyra = hear
• hlusta = listen

So in this sentence, ég vil samt heyra hann means I still want to hear it.

If you wanted listen, Icelandic usually uses hlusta á:

• ég vil hlusta á hann = I want to listen to it/him

So heyra is about perceiving sound, while hlusta á is more deliberate.

Yes. You could say:

• Stundum er sannleikurinn erfiður, en ég vil samt heyra hann.

That is also correct.

The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Sannleikurinn er stundum erfiður focuses first on the truth
• Stundum er sannleikurinn erfiður focuses first on sometimes

Both are natural, but the original sentence is a very straightforward neutral way to say it.

Yes. vil is the 1st person singular present form of vilja (to want).

So:

• ég vil = I want
• þú vilt = you want
• hann/hún/það vill = he/she/it wants

In your sentence:

• ég vil samt heyra hann = I still want to hear it

This is a very useful verb to learn early because it often combines with another verb in the infinitive.

A rough learner-friendly guide would be:

• Sannleikurinn ≈ SAN-lay-kur-inn
• er ≈ ehr
• stundum ≈ STOON-dum
• erfiður ≈ ER-vi-thur
• en ≈ en
• ég ≈ yehgh or yeg
• vil ≈ vil
• samt ≈ sahmt
• heyra ≈ HAY-ra
• hann ≈ han

A few helpful notes:

• ei in sannleikurinn sounds like ay
• ð in erfiður is a soft sound, a bit like th in this
• ey in heyra sounds like ay

This is only an approximation, but it can help you get started.