Skoðunarmaðurinn les skráningarnúmerið áður en hann athugar rúðuþurrkuna og hemlakerfið.

It is a compound noun:

• skoðun = inspection
• maður = man, person
• -inn = the definite article the

So skoðunarmaðurinn means the inspector / the inspection officer.

Because it is the subject of the sentence, it is in the nominative singular.

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

In this sentence:

• skoðunarmaðurinn = the inspector
• skráningarnúmerið = the registration number
• rúðuþurrkuna = the windshield wiper
• hemlakerfið = the braking system

The basic indefinite forms would be:

• skoðunarmaður
• skráningarnúmer
• rúðuþurrka
• hemlakerfi

So a very common Icelandic pattern is: noun first, definite ending attached at the end.

Because Icelandic nouns change form according to:

• gender
• number
• case
• noun class

So the definite article does not always look the same.

In this sentence:

• skoðunarmaðurinn is masculine singular nominative
• skráningarnúmerið is neuter singular definite
• rúðuþurrkuna is feminine singular accusative definite
• hemlakerfið is neuter singular definite

So the ending changes to match the grammar of the noun. This is one of the biggest differences from English.

They are direct objects, so they are in the accusative case.

• les takes a direct object: the inspector reads the registration number
• athugar also takes direct objects: he checks the windshield wiper and the braking system

A useful detail: for many neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative singular look the same, which is why skráningarnúmerið and hemlakerfið do not visibly change much. But rúðuþurrka shows a clearer accusative form in rúðuþurrkuna.

Áður en means before when it introduces a full clause.

So:

• áður on its own can mean earlier or before
• en introduces the clause that follows

In this sentence, áður en hann athugar... means before he checks...

This is a very common Icelandic structure:

• áður en ég fer = before I go
• áður en við byrjum = before we begin

Because Icelandic normally needs an explicit subject in a finite clause.

The second part of the sentence is a full clause:

• hann athugar rúðuþurrkuna og hemlakerfið

That clause needs a subject, so hann is used to refer back to skoðunarmaðurinn.

English can sometimes avoid repeating the subject with something like before checking..., but Icelandic often prefers a full clause in this kind of sentence.

They are both 3rd person singular present tense forms:

• les = from lesa = to read
• athugar = from athuga = to check, examine

They are 3rd person singular because the subject is:

• skoðunarmaðurinn = the inspector
• hann = he

So:

• hann les = he reads
• hann athugar = he checks

Icelandic makes heavy use of compound nouns, and this sentence is full of them.

Examples:

• skoðunarmaður = inspection + person
• skráningarnúmer = registration + number
• rúðuþurrka = window/pane + wiper
• hemlakerfi = brake + system

A very useful rule is that the last part of the compound usually determines the grammatical gender and inflection of the whole word.

For example:

• maður is masculine, so skoðunarmaður is masculine
• númer is neuter, so skráningarnúmer is neuter
• kerfi is neuter, so hemlakerfi is neuter

Because áður en introduces a subordinate clause, and the normal order there is:

• conjunction
• subject
• verb

So:

• áður en hann athugar...

is the expected order.

This is different from Icelandic main clauses, where verb-second word order is important.

For example, if the before clause came first, the main clause would typically invert:

• Áður en hann athugar rúðuþurrkuna og hemlakerfið les skoðunarmaðurinn skráningarnúmerið.

There, les comes before skoðunarmaðurinn because the sentence begins with another element.

Because one verb can govern two coordinated objects.

Here, og joins the two things being checked:

• rúðuþurrkuna
• hemlakerfið

So the structure is:

• hann athugar X og Y

This works just like English he checks the wiper and the braking system. Icelandic does not need to repeat the verb unless you want extra emphasis or a different structure.

In this sentence, yes, the person is being referred to as male, because the pronoun is hann.

The noun maður historically means man and is also used in many compound job titles. In actual usage, some such words can function more generally, but here the grammar makes the reference specifically male:

• skoðunarmaðurinn
• hann

So a learner should understand that this sentence is talking about a male inspector.