Breakdown of Konan spilar villt á fiðluna en maðurinn spilar á hljómborðið.
en
but
konan
the woman
maðurinn
the man
spila
to play
á
on (playing an instrument: spila á)
villtur
wild
fiðlan
the violin
hljómborðið
the keyboard (musical)
Questions & Answers about Konan spilar villt á fiðluna en maðurinn spilar á hljómborðið.
Why is the word for 'wildly' exactly the same as the neuter adjective form, villt?
In Icelandic, you can turn many strong adjectives into adverbs of manner—words that describe how an action is done—simply by using their neuter singular form. Because villtur means wild, its neuter singular form villt is used here to mean wildly.
Why are the instruments fiðluna and hljómborðið in the accusative case?
The verb spila requires the preposition á when talking about playing musical instruments. In the specific phrase spila á, the preposition always forces the following noun into the accusative case.
Why does Icelandic use the definite article for the instruments here (fiðluna instead of just fiðlu)?
It is very common in Icelandic to attach the definite article to musical instruments when talking about playing them generally, matching the English habit of saying 'plays the violin'. However, leaving it indefinite by saying spilar á fiðlu is also completely correct and means the same thing.
Could I use og (and) instead of en (but) to connect these two clauses?
You could use og, but en is highly natural here. Icelandic frequently uses en to contrast two different subjects doing two different things, even in situations where an English speaker might lean toward simply saying 'and'.
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