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Fólk talar sjaldan um kynlífið.

Fólk talar sjaldan um kynlífið.
People rarely talk about their sex life.
From Lesson 401:Lífshlaupið — the course of a life·Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Fólk talar sjaldan um kynlífið.

English uses a plural verb for 'people,' so why does this sentence use the singular verb talar?
Even though fólk translates to 'people,' it is grammatically a singular neuter noun in Icelandic. Therefore, it must take the third-person singular form of the verb, which is talar rather than the plural tala.
The English translation says 'their sex life,' but there is no word for 'their' in the Icelandic sentence. Why is that?
In Icelandic, it is very common to use the definite article (the -ið ending on kynlífið) instead of a possessive pronoun when the 'owner' is obvious from the context. This happens frequently with body parts, clothes, and personal aspects of life. Saying kynlíf sitt would sound unnaturally specific here.
Does the preposition um always take the accusative case, as it does here with kynlífið?
When um means 'about' or 'concerning,' it always governs the accusative case. Since kynlíf is a neuter noun, its accusative form is identical to its nominative form, so it remains kynlífið with the definite article attached.
Why is the adverb sjaldan placed immediately after the verb instead of at the end of the sentence?
In Icelandic main clauses, adverbs of frequency like sjaldan (rarely), oft (often), and alltaf (always) typically sit right after the conjugated verb. Placing it at the very end (Fólk talar um kynlífið sjaldan) would sound unnatural to a native speaker.

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