Breakdown of Kveiktu á ljósinu, það er dimmt hérna.
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
dimmur
dark
ljósið
the light
hérna
here (colloquial, pointing)
kveikja
to turn on, to light (kveikja á + Dat)
Questions & Answers about Kveiktu á ljósinu, það er dimmt hérna.
Why do we need the preposition á here, and what case does it trigger for ljósinu?
In Icelandic, to turn on an electrical device or a light, you use the phrasal verb kveikja á, which governs the dative case. That is why we use the dative definite form ljósinu. If you were to use kveikja without á, it would usually mean to physically set fire to something.
How is the imperative form Kveiktu built? I was expecting something like kveikjaðu.
The verb kveikja is a weak verb whose past tense is kveikti. Verbs that form their past tense with -ti, -di, or -ði take the raw stem for the imperative (kveik-) and attach the pronoun þú as a suffix. Because the stem ends in the voiceless consonant k, the suffix becomes -tu, giving us Kveiktu. The -aðu ending you were expecting is reserved for verbs in the -a group.
Why is the adjective dimmt in the neuter form when there is no specific neuter noun it describes?
Is there a difference between using hérna instead of hér in this sentence?
They both mean "here" and are often interchangeable. However, hérna is a bit softer, highly common in spoken language, and can imply a slightly broader area like "in here" or "around here". By contrast, hér can feel a bit more precise or formal, like "at this exact spot".
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