Vínylplatan er ódýr.

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• vínylplata = vinyl record / a vinyl record
• vínylplatan = the vinyl record

Here, -n is the definite article, and the full ending appears as -an because of how the noun is formed.

The dictionary form is vínylplata.

That is the indefinite singular nominative form, the form you would normally look up in a dictionary.
So:

• vínylplata = a vinyl record
• vínylplatan = the vinyl record

It is feminine.

A useful clue is that many Icelandic nouns ending in -a are feminine, and the definite form -an here also fits a feminine noun in the nominative singular.

That matters because adjectives in Icelandic must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Because the adjective has to agree with vínylplatan.

In this sentence, vínylplatan is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative (because it is the subject)

So the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative, which is ódýr.

Compare:

• masculine singular: ódýr
• feminine singular: ódýr
• neuter singular: ódýrt

So even though masculine and feminine look the same here, the form is still chosen by agreement.

The prefix ó- often gives a word a negative meaning, similar to English un-, in-, or not.

So:

• dýr = expensive
• ódýr = inexpensive / cheap

This is a very common pattern in Icelandic.

Er is the present tense singular form of the verb vera, which means to be.

In this sentence, the subject vínylplatan is singular, so Icelandic uses er:

• ég er = I am
• þú ert = you are
• hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is

So Vínylplatan er ódýr literally follows the same pattern as English:
The vinyl record is cheap.

It is in the nominative case.

The nominative is used for the subject of the sentence, and here vínylplatan is the thing being described. The sentence is saying something about the vinyl record, so it appears in the nominative.

The adjective ódýr also matches that nominative use.

In this sentence, it is very similar to English:

• Vínylplatan = subject
• er = verb
• ódýr = predicate adjective

So the structure is basically:

Subject + is + adjective

However, Icelandic word order can be more flexible than English in many contexts, especially because Icelandic follows a verb-second pattern in main clauses. But this particular sentence is straightforward and very natural.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

• Vínylplatan ≈ VEE-nil-plah-tan
• er ≈ ehr
• ódýr ≈ OH-deer

A few helpful pronunciation notes:

• í is a long ee sound.
• ý is also pronounced roughly like ee in modern Icelandic.
• ó is pronounced like oh.
• The stress in Icelandic usually falls on the first syllable of the word.

So the main stresses are on VÍ-nylplatan and Ó-dýr.

Yes, if the context already makes it clear which record you mean.

Plata can mean record or disc, and platan means the record. Adding vínyl- makes it more specific: vinyl record.

So:

• Vínylplatan er ódýr = The vinyl record is cheap
• Platan er ódýr = The record is cheap

The shorter version is fine when the context is obvious.

Yes. In many contexts, ódýr can mean either cheap or inexpensive.

Like English cheap, the exact tone depends on context:

• Sometimes it is neutral: low in price
• Sometimes, depending on context, English cheap can suggest low quality

Icelandic ódýr often simply refers to price, so inexpensive is often a good translation if you want a more neutral feel.

Yes. You would use the indefinite form of the noun:

• Vínylplata er ódýr. = A vinyl record is cheap / Vinyl record is cheap in a general sense
• Vínylplatan er ódýr. = The vinyl record is cheap

So the difference is:

• vínylplata = indefinite
• vínylplatan = definite

That definite ending is one of the most important things to notice in Icelandic nouns.