Breakdown of Hlustið á kennarann og horfið á töfluna!
og
and
kennarinn
the teacher
hlusta
to listen
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
horfa
to watch
taflan
the board
Questions & Answers about Hlustið á kennarann og horfið á töfluna!
Why do the verbs hlustið and horfið end in -ið?
This is the plural imperative, which is the command form you use when telling more than one person to do something. The base verbs are hlusta (to listen) and horfa (to look). To command a group, you drop the final -a and add the suffix -ið.
Why is the preposition á used twice here, when the English translation says listen to and look at?
Prepositions rarely match up perfectly between languages. In Icelandic, the verb hlusta always requires the preposition á. So while English speakers listen to, Icelanders use hlusta á (listen on/at). For horfa (to look), horfa á translates more directly as look at.
What does the ending -nn do in the word kennarann?
It is the attached word for the in the accusative case. The basic word is kennari (teacher). Because the preposition á forces the following noun into the accusative case, kennari changes to kennara. Adding the article for the turns it into kennarann.
How did the word for board (tafla) turn into töfluna?
This is also because the preposition á triggers the accusative case. The feminine word tafla changes its ending to a -u, becoming töflu. When you add the accusative feminine article for the, it becomes töfluna.
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