Breakdown of Kennarinn leyfir okkur að tala.
kennarinn
the teacher
tala
to speak
að
to (infinitive marker)
okkur
us
Questions & Answers about Kennarinn leyfir okkur að tala.
Why does the sentence use okkur instead of við?
The verb leyfir (from að leyfa, to allow) requires the person being allowed to do something to be in the dative case. The basic pronoun is við (we), but it must change to the dative form okkur (us) here.
How exactly is the word Kennarinn formed?
It comes from the masculine noun kennari (teacher). In Icelandic, the word for 'the' attaches to the end of the noun. Because kennari already ends in a vowel, you just add -nn to make kennarinn (the teacher).
Why do we need the word að before tala?
The word að acts as the infinitive marker here, matching the word 'to' in the English phrase 'to talk'. When you state an action following a main verb like leyfir, the second verb stays in its basic dictionary form and puts að in front of it.