Breakdown of Maðurinn les stundum blöðin.
maðurinn
the man
stundum
sometimes
lesa
to read
blaðið
the newspaper
Questions & Answers about Maðurinn les stundum blöðin.
Why is 'the newspapers' translated as blöðin?
The base word is the neuter noun blað (newspaper). In the plural, the vowel changes to an 'ö', making it blöð (newspapers). Because it's the direct object of the verb les, it is in the accusative case. For neuter words, the accusative plural looks exactly like the nominative! To say 'the' newspapers, we add the definite ending -in to get blöðin.
How would I say 'The man sometimes reads newspapers' (without 'the')?
You would use the bare (indefinite) plural form: Maðurinn les stundum blöð. When learning about accusative plurals, remember that neuter nouns like blað don't get a special ending in the bare accusative plural. They just use their normal plural form.
The word stundum ends in -um. Does that mean it is a dative plural noun in this sentence?
It definitely looks like one! However, stundum is simply a fixed adverb meaning 'sometimes'. While it historically comes from an old dative plural form, in modern Icelandic it is just a vocabulary word that never changes its shape depending on the sentence.
Why does stundum come after the verb les, instead of before it like in English?
This is because of the V2 rule in Icelandic. The main verb (here, les) must usually be the second piece of information in the sentence. Since the subject Maðurinn is in the first position, the verb must take the second spot, forcing the adverb stundum to come after it.