Questions & Answers about Kötturinn truflar þau.
Isn't þau the subject pronoun for "they"? Why is it being used here to mean "them"?
It actually works as both! For the neuter plural pronoun, the nominative (subject) form "they" and the accusative (object) form "them" are exactly the same: þau. You can tell it means "them" here because it comes after the verb as the object receiving the action.
Would I always use þau to translate "them"?
Not always! You only use þau if you are referring to a group of neuter nouns, or a mixed-gender group (like a group of men and women together). If you were talking about a group of strictly masculine nouns, you would use the masculine accusative þá. For a strictly feminine group, you would use þær.
Why does the verb truflar force the pronoun into the accusative case here?
In Icelandic, most verbs that do something directly to someone or something take their object in the accusative case. Since trufla means "to bother" or "disturb", the people being bothered are the direct receivers of that action, so they must be in the accusative case.
I remember the base word for cat is köttur. How does it become "the cat" in this sentence?
Icelandic attaches the word for "the" directly to the end of the noun! Since the cat is the subject doing the bothering, it is in the nominative case. Adding the masculine singular definite ending -inn to köttur makes it kötturinn ("the cat").
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