Ég heyri þig varla.

Heyra is the infinitive form, meaning to hear.
In the sentence, you need the present tense form for I hear, which is heyri.

So:

• að heyra = to hear
• ég heyri = I hear

This is a very common pattern in Icelandic verbs.

Because þig is the object form of you.

Compare:

• þú = you as the subject
• þig = you as the direct object

In English, this is similar to:

• I / me
• he / him

So in Ég heyri þig varla, ég is the subject and þig is the thing/person being heard.

A useful mini-paradigm is:

• þú = nominative
• þig = accusative
• þér = dative

With heyra, the direct object is normally in the accusative, so þig is exactly what you expect here.

Varla means hardly, barely, or scarcely.

So the sentence has the sense of:

• I can hardly hear you
• I barely hear you

It gives the sentence a near-negative meaning: not a full I don’t hear you, but very close to it.

Because varla already carries the idea of hardly/barely, so you do not normally need ekki.

Compare:

• Ég heyri þig ekki. = I do not hear you.
• Ég heyri þig varla. = I can hardly hear you.

So:

• ekki = plain negation
• varla = almost not / barely

They are not the same, even though they are close in meaning.

In Icelandic, a simple present-tense verb is often enough where English naturally uses can.

So Icelandic says:

• Ég heyri þig varla.

But natural English often prefers:

• I can hardly hear you.

This is especially common with verbs of perception like:

• heyra = hear
• sjá = see
• finna = feel/sense

So even though there is no separate Icelandic word here for can, the English translation often includes it.

The neutral word order here is:

• Ég = subject
• heyri = verb
• þig = object
• varla = adverb

So the pattern is basically:

subject + verb + object + adverb

That is a very normal order for a simple statement in Icelandic.

Icelandic word order can be more flexible than English, but for a learner, Ég heyri þig varla is the standard and safest version to use.

The letter þ is pronounced like th in thin, not like th in this.

So þig starts with that unvoiced th sound.

A rough learner-friendly guide:

• þig ≈ thig

But one important detail: the final g is not a hard English g like in go. In normal Icelandic pronunciation, it is much softer.

So the approximation helps, but the real Icelandic pronunciation is a bit different from English.

A rough approximation is:

• heyri ≈ HAY-ri

The first part sounds like hey, and the second syllable is a short ri.

So the whole sentence is roughly:

• Ég heyri þig varla
• ≈ Yeg HAY-ri thig VART-la

That is only an approximation, but it is a useful starting point.

This is a very common learner question.

• heyra = hear
• hlusta á = listen to

So:

• Ég heyri þig. = I hear you.
• Ég hlusta á þig. = I am listening to you.

In other words:

• heyra is about perceiving sound
• hlusta is about actively paying attention

That is very similar to the English difference between hear and listen.

In normal Icelandic, you usually do include the subject pronoun.

So:

• Ég heyri þig varla. = normal

Leaving out ég would usually not be natural in an ordinary standalone sentence.

Unlike some languages, Icelandic does not regularly drop subject pronouns just because the verb ending shows the person.

It can cover both ideas.

Ég heyri þig varla can mean things like:

• your voice is too quiet
• the connection is bad
• there is too much background noise
• I can only just make out what you are saying

So it is a very natural sentence in real-life situations, especially on the phone or in a noisy place.