Breakdown of Við skoðuðum hafsbotninn heila klukkustund.
við
we
skoða
to look at
heill
whole, entire
klukkustundin
the hour
Questions & Answers about Við skoðuðum hafsbotninn heila klukkustund.
Why is there no word for "for" before heila klukkustund?
This is the Accusative of Extent. In Icelandic, you don't always need a preposition to express duration. By simply putting the noun phrase—in this case, heila klukkustund—into the accusative case, it automatically conveys the meaning "for a whole hour."
Would it be wrong to use a preposition and say í heila klukkustund?
Not at all! Using the preposition í followed by the accusative is also perfectly correct and means the exact same thing. Dropping the preposition to use the bare accusative is just a slightly more concise, widely used alternative for duration.
Could I use tíma instead of klukkustund here to mean "hour"?
Yes, you could say heilan tíma. The masculine noun tími is very common for "hour," though it can also mean "time" in general or a "school lesson." Klukkustund specifically means a literal 60-minute hour. Using it here emphasizes the exact, measured duration of the exploration.
How exactly is the word hafsbotninn constructed?