Hún setur dótið í töskuna.

Hún means she.

It is the 3rd person singular feminine pronoun. Icelandic pronouns change for case, but here hún is in the nominative because it is the subject of the sentence.

Setja is the infinitive: to put / to place / to set.

Setur is the present tense form used with hann / hún / það (he / she / it):

• ég set — I put
• þú setur — you put
• hann / hún / það setur — he / she / it puts

So Hún setur ... means She puts ... or She is putting ..., depending on context.

Dótið means the stuff, the things, or sometimes the toys, depending on context.

The base word is dót, which often means stuff, gear, bits and pieces, or toys in everyday speech.

The ending -ið is the definite article, so:

• dót = stuff / things
• dótið = the stuff / the things

In this sentence, dótið is the direct object, so it is in the accusative.

However, for many neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are the same. So even though it is accusative here, it still appears as dótið.

That is why you do not see a visible change.

This is one of the most important Icelandic patterns.

The preposition í can take:

• accusative when there is movement into something
• dative when something is located in something

Here, the sentence means that she is putting the stuff into the bag. That involves movement, so Icelandic uses the accusative:

• í töskuna = into the bag

Compare:

• Hún setur dótið í töskuna. = She puts the stuff into the bag.
• Dótið er í töskunni. = The stuff is in the bag.

So:

• töskuna = accusative, movement into
• töskunni = dative, location in

Töskuna comes from taska, meaning bag.

The ending -na here shows that the noun is:

• singular
• definite (the bag)
• accusative
• feminine

So:

• taska = a bag
• tösku = a bag (accusative/oblique form)
• töskuna = the bag (accusative)

The vowel change from a to ö is part of the noun’s inflection pattern.

This is due to the way the noun declines.

Many Icelandic nouns change their stem vowel in some forms. With taska, the stem changes from task- to tösk- in certain case forms.

So you get:

• taska — nominative singular
• tösku — accusative singular
• töskuna — accusative singular definite

This kind of vowel change is common in Icelandic and is something learners usually just have to get used to through exposure and memorization.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Icelandic present tense often covers both:

• a general/habitual action: she puts
• an action happening now: she is putting

So Hún setur dótið í töskuna could mean:

• She puts the stuff into the bag
• She is putting the stuff into the bag

If Icelandic wants to make the ongoing sense extra clear, it can use a progressive-style expression such as er að + infinitive:

• Hún er að setja dótið í töskuna. = She is putting the stuff into the bag.

This is a very normal Icelandic main-clause word order:

• Hún — subject
• setur — verb
• dótið — object
• í töskuna — prepositional phrase

So the structure is basically:

Subject + Verb + Object + Place/Direction

Icelandic is often described as a verb-second language, which means the finite verb tends to come early in main clauses. In a simple sentence like this, the word order looks quite similar to English.

Then Icelandic would use dative after í, because it would describe location, not movement.

So you would say:

• Dótið er í töskunni. = The stuff is in the bag.

Or if you wanted to keep setja but change the meaning, you would need a different structure, because setja itself implies placing something somewhere.

The key contrast is:

• í töskuna = into the bag
• í töskunni = in the bag

In dótið, the letter ð is pronounced like the th in this, not like the th in thing.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• dótið ≈ THOH-tith or THOH-tid
  (very approximate, and the last sound is softer than English speakers often expect)

A few helpful points:

• ó sounds roughly like o in go
• í sounds roughly like ee in see
• ð is a voiced th sound

So dótið is roughly THOH-tith.

Often, yes.

Like English stuff, dót can be a collective word that refers to multiple items without needing a plural form.

So dótið can mean:

• the stuff
• the things
• sometimes the toys

Even though the meaning may involve several objects, the grammar is often singular neuter.

Yes. That is also natural.

Adding inn emphasizes the idea of inward movement:

• í töskuna = into the bag
• inn í töskuna = in/into the bag, with extra emphasis on going inside

In many contexts, both are possible. The version without inn is already completely correct and natural.

A good way to analyze it is:

• Hún = subject, nominative
• setur = present tense verb
• dótið = direct object, accusative
• í töskuna = prepositional phrase showing direction; í takes accusative here because of movement

So the overall pattern is:

Subject + present-tense verb + object + destination

This is a very useful sentence model for Icelandic.