Breakdown of Ég heyri strákinn spila hátt á trommuna.
ég
I
strákurinn
the boy
spila
to play
heyra
to hear
hár
high / loudly
á
on (playing an instrument: spila á)
tromman
the drum
Questions & Answers about Ég heyri strákinn spila hátt á trommuna.
Why is hátt used for "loudly", and how does it relate to the adjective for "loud"?
Hátt is the neuter singular form of the adjective hár, which means "high" or "loud". In Icelandic, you often create an adverb (a word describing how an action is done) simply by using the strong neuter singular form of an adjective. Since the boy is playing the drum "loudly", we use the neuter form hátt as an adverb.
Why is strákinn in the accusative case while spila is in the infinitive?
This is a common sentence structure used with verbs of perception like hearing (heyra) and seeing (sjá). The person you hear or see becomes the direct object in the accusative case (here, strákinn). The action you hear them doing is kept in its infinitive dictionary form (spila). In English, we say "I hear the boy play," and Icelandic does the exact same thing!
Why do we need the preposition á before trommuna?
In English you "play an instrument", but in Icelandic you "play on an instrument". Whenever you talk about playing music on an instrument, you must use the verb phrase spila á.
What determines the case of trommuna?
The preposition á decides the case here. When used in the phrase spila á for musical instruments, it always requires the following noun to be in the accusative case. Trommuna is the accusative definite form of the feminine noun tromma (drum).
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