Eftir kaupin telur söluaðilinn smápeningana og pakkar varningnum.

In an Icelandic main clause, the finite verb usually comes in the second slot. This is often called the V2 rule.

Here, Eftir kaupin is the first slot of the sentence, so the verb telur has to come next:

• Eftir kaupin = first slot
• telur = second slot
• söluaðilinn = subject

So Eftir kaupin telur söluaðilinn... is normal Icelandic word order.

Compare:

• Söluaðilinn telur smápeningana.
• Eftir kaupin telur söluaðilinn smápeningana.

Both are correct; the second one just starts with a time phrase.

Eftir meaning after takes the accusative.

The noun here is kaup, which is very often used like a plural-only noun in Icelandic, even when English would translate it with a singular idea such as purchase or transaction.

So:

• kaup = purchase / buying / transaction
• kaupin = the purchase / the transaction

The form looks plural because, grammatically, it is. Idiomatically, though, English often translates it with a singular noun.

It is the definite form of söluaðili.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• seller
• vendor
• dealer
• salesperson
• sales clerk

It is a compound word:

• sölu- = sale / selling
• aðili = party, person, agent

So söluaðilinn means the seller or the sales clerk in this sentence.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being written as a separate word.

In this sentence:

• kaupin = the purchase
• söluaðilinn = the seller
• smápeningana = the small coins / the change
• varningnum = the merchandise / the goods

So Icelandic often expresses the as a noun ending rather than as a separate word like English the.

Because the two verbs take different cases.

• telja takes an accusative object
  
  • telja smápeningana = count the change
• pakka takes a dative object
  
  • pakka varningnum = pack the merchandise

This is very common in Icelandic: the verb often determines the case of its object, and you have to learn that together with the verb.

It comes from smápeningar, literally small coins.

In a shop context, it usually means:

• coins
• small change
• change

So here it most naturally means that the seller is counting the coins/change after the purchase.

Also, smápeningar is a single compound noun, not two separate words.

Because both verbs have the same subject, and Icelandic normally does not repeat the subject in that situation.

So this part:

• telur söluaðilinn smápeningana og pakkar varningnum

means:

• the seller counts the change and packs the merchandise

The subject söluaðilinn applies to both telur and pakkar.

The dictionary form is varningur, which means:

• goods
• merchandise
• wares

Even though English often uses the plural word goods, Icelandic varningur is often a singular collective noun. So varningnum can still be translated as the goods or the merchandise.

That is why the Icelandic form is singular even though the English translation may sound plural.

Yes:

• kaupin

  • dictionary form: kaup
  • case/number: accusative plural
  • meaning: the purchase / the transaction

• söluaðilinn

  • dictionary form: söluaðili
  • case/number: nominative singular
  • meaning: the seller

• smápeningana

  • dictionary form: smápeningar
  • case/number: accusative plural
  • meaning: the change / the coins

• varningnum

  • dictionary form: varningur
  • case/number: dative singular
  • meaning: the merchandise / the goods

So the endings are doing several jobs at once: they show definiteness, case, and number.

Here are the main dictionary forms:

• eftir = after
• kaup = purchase, buying, transaction
• telja = to count
• söluaðili = seller, vendor, dealer
• smápeningar = small coins, change
• og = and
• pakka = to pack
• varningur = goods, merchandise

This is useful because Icelandic words often appear in inflected forms that look quite different from the dictionary form.