Breakdown of Það er leynihólf í vegg á bak við myndina.
vera
to be
myndin
the picture
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
veggurinn
the wall
bakið
the back
við
at / by (next to)
leynihólfið
the secret compartment
Questions & Answers about Það er leynihólf í vegg á bak við myndina.
Why does á bak við take the accusative case here with myndina?
The compound preposition á bak við (behind) always governs the accusative case. Even though it describes a stationary location—which often triggers the dative case with single prepositions like í or á—this specific phrase is a strict exception and requires the accusative.
What case is vegg in the phrase í vegg?
Because the secret compartment is stationary inside the wall, the preposition í governs the dative case. For the masculine noun veggur (wall), the dative form is vegg. If you thought it was accusative, your instincts on the spelling are correct: veggur happens to take the exact same form (vegg) in both the accusative and the dative cases.
Why do we start the sentence with það instead of þar?
This is a classic false friend for English speakers. When the English word "there" acts as a dummy subject to introduce the existence of something (like "There is a..."), Icelandic always uses það (literally "it"). The word þar is strictly an adverb of place used to point out a physical location, like saying "The picture is over there."
How is the word leynihólf constructed?
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