Question 1

Why do we use á instead of í for "in the evenings"?

Accepted Answer

This ties into our current lesson on time phrases! For habitual or repeating actions (like doing something every evening), you use á followed by the accusative case. If you used í + accusative, it would refer to a specific time, such as í kvöld meaning "tonight" or "this evening".

Question 2

Why is the definite article attached to kvöldin here?

Accepted Answer

When expressing recurring parts of the day with á, Icelandic requires the plural definite form of the noun. So kvöld (evening) becomes kvöldin (the evenings). The phrase á kvöldin literally functions like "on the evenings".

Question 3

Does nátthrafnar literally mean "night owls"?

Accepted Answer

It has the exact same meaning, but the literal translation is actually "night ravens" (nátt + hrafnar). It is the standard Icelandic idiom for people who are most active late at night.

Question 4

Why do allir and afkastamiklir both end in -ir?

Accepted Answer

They are both describing the subject nátthrafnar, which is a masculine plural noun in the nominative case. To match it, the pronoun allur (all) becomes allir, and the adjective afkastamikill (productive) becomes afkastamiklir.

Question 5

Just as a refresher, why does eru come before the subject?

Accepted Answer

This is due to the strict V2 (verb-second) rule. Because the time phrase Á kvöldin takes up the first slot in the sentence, the verb eru (are) must take the second slot. This pushes the subject allir nátthrafnar into the third position, directly after the verb.

Á kvöldin eru allir nátthrafnar afkastamiklir.

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