Hljómsveitin byrjar seint, en söngkonan syngur samt svo skýrt að allir hlusta.

Hljómsveitin means the band.

The base noun is hljómsveit, which means band. Icelandic usually puts the definite article on the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the in English.

So:

• hljómsveit = band
• hljómsveitin = the band

Here -in is the definite ending for this feminine noun in the nominative singular.

Byrjar is the 3rd person singular present tense form of byrja = to begin / to start.

Since the subject is Hljómsveitin (the band), which is singular, the verb must also be singular:

• að byrja = to begin
• hann / hún / það byrjar = he / she / it begins
• hljómsveitin byrjar = the band begins / starts

So byrja would be the infinitive, not the correct finite verb here.

Here seint is an adverb, meaning late.

It describes when or how the band starts:

• byrjar seint = starts late

This comes from the adjective seinn = late. In Icelandic, the neuter singular form is often used adverbially, so seint can function like English late.

En means but.

It connects two main clauses:

• Hljómsveitin byrjar seint = The band starts late
• en söngkonan syngur samt svo skýrt að allir hlusta = but the singer still sings so clearly that everyone listens

So en is a straightforward coordinating conjunction, like English but.

Söngkonan means the female singer or the singer when the singer is specifically a woman.

The base noun is söngkona:

• söngkona = female singer
• söngkonan = the female singer

Again, Icelandic adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

A learner should also notice that this word is specifically feminine in meaning. If you wanted a more general word for singer, you might also meet söngvari.

Because syngur is the correct present tense singular form of the verb syngja = to sing.

Compare:

• að syngja = to sing
• hún syngur = she sings
• söngkonan syngur = the singer sings

So just like byrjar, this is a finite verb agreeing with a singular subject.

Samt here means something like still, nevertheless, or all the same.

It adds a contrast:

• The band starts late,
• but the singer still / nevertheless sings so clearly...

So it gives the idea that even though something is less than ideal, something positive is still true.

This is normal Icelandic word order.

In a main clause, Icelandic usually follows a verb-second pattern, meaning the finite verb tends to come early in the clause. After that, adverbs like samt often appear.

So:

• söngkonan syngur samt...

is a very natural order.

An English speaker might want to say something more like the singer still sings, and that is basically what Icelandic is doing here, just with Icelandic sentence structure.

Svo skýrt að means so clearly that.

This is a very useful pattern in Icelandic:

• svo ... að ... = so ... that ...

In this sentence:

• svo skýrt = so clearly
• að allir hlusta = that everyone listens

So the whole idea is that the singer sings with such clarity that everyone listens.

Because skýrt is being used adverbially here, meaning clearly.

The adjective is:

• skýr = clear

But Icelandic often uses the neuter singular form of an adjective as an adverb:

• skýr = clear
• skýrt = clearly / in a clear way

So:

• syngur skýrt = sings clearly

This is a very common Icelandic pattern.

No. Here að means that, not to.

Icelandic að can have more than one job. In this sentence, it introduces a result clause:

• svo skýrt að allir hlusta
• so clearly that everyone listens

This is different from infinitive að, as in:

• að syngja = to sing

So the meaning of að depends on the structure around it.

Because allir is grammatically plural.

Literally, allir means all or all people / everyone, and here it takes a plural verb:

• allir hlusta = everyone listens / all listen

This is different from English, where everyone is grammatically singular.

Also, allir is the masculine plural form, which is often used for mixed groups or groups of unspecified gender. If the group were all female, you might see allar instead.

It does look like the infinitive, but here it is actually the 3rd person plural present tense form.

The verb is hlusta = to listen, and for this verb the infinitive and the 3rd person plural present happen to look the same:

• að hlusta = to listen
• þeir hlusta = they listen

So in:

• allir hlusta

hlusta means listen, not to listen.

The subject allir shows that this is a normal finite verb form, not an infinitive.