Ég braut glasið óvart.

Because glasið means the glass, while glas means a glass or just glass in an indefinite sense.

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific glass, so Icelandic uses the definite form glasið.

A useful pattern is:

• glas = a glass
• glasið = the glass

Unlike English, Icelandic usually adds the to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word in front of it.

It is in the accusative, because it is the direct object of the verb braut.

The verb brjóta means to break, and the thing being broken goes in the accusative.

So:

• Ég braut glasið = I broke the glass

One thing that can confuse learners is that for this noun, the nominative and accusative singular definite forms look the same:

• nominative: glasið
• accusative: glasið

So even though the form looks unchanged, the grammatical role is still accusative here.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as a suffix.

So instead of a separate word like English the, Icelandic often does this:

• glas = glass
• glas + ið = glasið = the glass

This is a very common feature of Icelandic nouns. The ending changes depending on gender, number, and case.

The base form is brjóta, which means to break.

Braut is the past tense form used with ég in this sentence:

• Ég brýt = I break / I am breaking
• Ég braut = I broke

This is an irregular (strong) verb, so the vowel changes from jó to au in the past tense.

In the past tense, many Icelandic verbs do not have a unique form just for ég.

For brjóta, the past singular form is braut, and that same form is used with several singular subjects:

• ég braut = I broke
• þú braust = you broke
• hann/hún/það braut = he/she/it broke

So ég braut is completely normal. Icelandic does not always work like English, where learners expect each person to have a visibly different form.

Óvart means accidentally, by accident, or by mistake.

In this sentence, it tells us that breaking the glass was not intentional:

• Ég braut glasið óvart. = I broke the glass accidentally.

It functions as an adverb here, describing how the action happened.

That is a very natural position for it. Icelandic word order is somewhat flexible, especially with adverbs.

In this sentence, putting óvart at the end sounds natural and clear:

• Ég braut glasið óvart.

You may also hear:

• Ég braut óvart glasið.

That also means I accidentally broke the glass. The difference is mostly one of rhythm and emphasis, not basic meaning.

Yes, it is.

Both of these are natural:

• Ég braut glasið óvart.
• Ég braut óvart glasið.

The meaning is essentially the same. The placement of óvart can shift depending on emphasis or style. Learners should recognize both.

Glas is a neuter noun, and yes, that matters because Icelandic noun forms change according to gender, case, and number.

That is why the definite form is glasið. The ending -ið is a neuter singular definite ending in this form.

Knowing the gender helps you learn the correct forms:

• indefinite: glas
• definite: glasið

Not exactly. As written, it means I broke the glass accidentally, referring to a specific glass.

If you wanted I broke a glass accidentally, you would normally say:

• Ég braut glas óvart.

So the presence of -ið in glasið is important because it marks the noun as definite.

Yes, normally yes.

Icelandic usually keeps the subject pronoun explicit, so:

• Ég braut glasið óvart.

is the normal full sentence.

Unlike some languages, Icelandic does not usually drop the subject pronoun just because the verb form makes it obvious.

Yes. Óvart is very common, but another expression you may see is fyrir slysni, which also means by accident.

For example:

• Ég braut glasið fyrir slysni.

That said, óvart is short, common, and very useful in everyday Icelandic.

The present tense would be:

• Ég brýt glasið óvart.

That means something like I break the glass accidentally or, depending on context, I am breaking the glass accidentally.

Compare:

• Ég brýt = I break
• Ég braut = I broke

This helps show that braut is clearly a past-tense form.

Yes, sometimes. Braut can also be a noun in Icelandic, meaning things like track, lane, or course, depending on context.

But in Ég braut glasið óvart, it is clearly the verb broke, because:

• it follows the subject ég
• it is followed by a direct object glasið

So context makes the meaning clear.