Fyrirlesarinn talar hægt og skýrt.

to speak

Breakdown of Fyrirlesarinn talar hægt og skýrt.

• og: and
• hægt: slowly
• skýrt: clearly

Questions & Answers about Fyrirlesarinn talar hægt og skýrt.

What does Fyrirlesarinn break down into?

Fyrirlesarinn = fyrirlesari + -inn

• fyrirlesari means lecturer or speaker giving a lecture
• -inn is the definite article attached to the end, so it means the lecturer

This is very common in Icelandic: instead of a separate word for the, Icelandic often adds it to the noun.

Examples:

• maður = man
• maðurinn = the man

So Fyrirlesarinn literally means the lecturer.

Why is the word for the attached to the noun instead of being separate?

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually a suffix, not a separate word like English the.

So:

• fyrirlesari = lecturer
• fyrirlesarinn = the lecturer

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice. Icelandic can use a separate demonstrative in some situations, but the normal way to say the lecturer is with the article attached directly to the noun.

Why is it talar and not tala?