Breakdown of Þeir heyra grunsamlega manninn spyrja um upptökuna.
maðurinn
the man
þeir
they (m)
heyra
to hear
spyrja
to ask
um
about
grunsamlegur
suspicious
upptakan
the recording
Questions & Answers about Þeir heyra grunsamlega manninn spyrja um upptökuna.
Why isn't there an að before the verb spyrja here?
This sentence uses the Accusative with Infinitive pattern. When you use a perception verb like heyra (to hear), the action you hear someone doing is expressed as a bare infinitive. This means you drop the að before spyrja.
Why is the man in the accusative case (grunsamlega manninn)?
In this same grammatical pattern, the person or thing you perceive becomes the direct object of the perception verb. Since they hear the man, maðurinn (nominative) changes to manninn (accusative).
Grunsamlega looks like an adverb. Is it acting as one here?
It looks like an adverb, but here it is actually the weak form of the adjective grunsamlegur (suspicious). Because the noun has the definite article attached (manninn), the adjective must use the weak declension. The masculine accusative weak ending is -a.
Why is upptökuna in the accusative case?
It is governed by the preposition um (about), which requires the accusative case. Upptökuna is the accusative form of the feminine noun upptaka with the definite article attached (the recording).
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