Breakdown of Pabbi er ekki að horfa á sjónvarpið.
vera
to be
ekki
not
að
to (infinitive marker)
pabbinn
the dad (informal)
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
horfa
to watch
sjónvarpið
the television
Questions & Answers about Pabbi er ekki að horfa á sjónvarpið.
How do we form the present continuous 'is watching' in this sentence?
We use the verb vera (to be) conjugated as er (is), followed by the infinitive marker að and the main verb horfa (to watch). This creates the action of doing something right now.
Where does the negative word ekki go when using this 'vera að' structure?
It goes immediately after the conjugated verb er, splitting the helper verb from the infinitive part. So 'is not watching' becomes er ekki að horfa (literally: is not to watch).
Why do we need the word á before the television?
In Icelandic, you do not just watch a screen, you look at it. The verb horfa almost always pairs with the preposition á to mean watching or looking at something.
What does the -ið at the end of sjónvarpið do?
It is the definite article 'the' attached to the end of the noun sjónvarp (television). Because of the preposition á, the noun is in the accusative case, but for a neuter word like this, the accusative looks exactly the same as the dictionary form.
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