Breakdown of Er bannað að veiða hérna?
vera
to be
að
to (infinitive marker)
hérna
here (colloquial, pointing)
bannaður
forbidden
Questions & Answers about Er bannað að veiða hérna?
How would I ask this same question using mega (to be allowed to)?
You could ask Má veiða hérna? (Is it allowed to fish here?). Notice that when you use a form of the modal verb mega, you use the bare infinitive, meaning you drop the word að (to).
Since this lesson is about using verbs without að, why do we say að veiða in this sentence?
Because bannað (forbidden) is an adjective, not a modal verb! You only drop the að (to) after specific auxiliary verbs like mega (may), vilja (want), or skulu (shall). When linking an adjective like bannað to an infinitive verb, you must keep the að.
Why is the word for forbidden in the neuter form (bannað)?
This is an impersonal sentence, meaning there is no specific subject (like a masculine or feminine noun) that is forbidden. It is just a general statement about 'it' being forbidden. In Icelandic, when you have a general 'it is...' structure, the adjective always takes the default neuter singular form.
Does veiða specifically mean to fish?
Not exclusively! Að veiða is a general verb for hunting, catching, or fishing. If you are standing by a river, it obviously means fishing. If you need to be specific in other contexts, you would add the animal, like að veiða fisk (to catch fish) or að veiða rjúpu (to hunt ptarmigan).