Heimahjúkrunin byrjar í dag.

Icelandic very often forms compound nouns, where English might use two or more separate words.

Heimahjúkrunin breaks down like this:

• heima = at home
• hjúkrun = nursing, care
• -in = the (attached to the noun)

So the core noun is heimahjúkrun = home nursing / home care, and heimahjúkrunin = the home nursing service or the home care.

This is very normal in Icelandic. Where English often uses separate words, Icelandic often prefers one compound word.

The ending -in is the definite article, meaning the.

In Icelandic, the is often not a separate word. Instead, it is attached to the end of the noun.

So:

• heimahjúkrun = home nursing / home care
• heimahjúkrunin = the home nursing / the home care

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Icelandic.

Yes. Hjúkrun is a feminine noun, and since heimahjúkrun is built on that noun, it is feminine too.

That matters because the definite article ending changes depending on:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, heimahjúkrunin is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

That is why the definite form appears as -in here.

It is in the nominative because it is the subject of the sentence — the thing that is doing the action.

In Heimahjúkrunin byrjar í dag, the thing that starts is Heimahjúkrunin, so it appears in the nominative.

A useful way to think about it is:

• What starts today?
• Heimahjúkrunin.

That makes it the subject.

Byrjar is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb að byrja = to begin / to start.

The infinitive is:

• að byrja = to start

But in the sentence, the subject is Heimahjúkrunin, which is singular, so the verb must match that:

• ég byrja = I start
• þú byrjar = you start
• hann / hún / það byrjar = he / she / it starts

Since Heimahjúkrunin is a singular noun, Icelandic uses byrjar.

Icelandic often uses the simple present tense where English might use either:

• starts
• or is starting

So Heimahjúkrunin byrjar í dag can correspond to natural English like:

• The home care starts today
• The home care is starting today

Icelandic does have ways to express ongoing action, but very often the plain present tense is enough.

Í dag is a very common expression meaning today.

It is made of:

• í = in
• dag = day

So historically it is like in [the] day, but as a fixed expression it simply means today.

It is written as two words because it is a preposition plus a noun, not a single adverb.

You should learn í dag as a set phrase.

The basic noun is:

• dagur = day

But after the preposition í, in this time expression, the noun appears in the accusative singular:

• dagur → dag

So:

• í dag = today

This is one of many places where Icelandic noun forms change depending on grammar.

Yes. You can say:

• Í dag byrjar heimahjúkrunin.

That is also correct and very natural.

But when you put something else first in an Icelandic main clause, the finite verb usually comes second. This is the famous V2 word order pattern.

So:

• Heimahjúkrunin byrjar í dag.
• Í dag byrjar heimahjúkrunin.

Notice that in the second version, byrjar still stays in the second position.

You would not normally say:

• Í dag heimahjúkrunin byrjar.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Heimahjúkrunin byrjar í dag = the home care / home nursing starts today
• Heimahjúkrun byrjar í dag = home care starts today

Without the definite ending, it sounds more indefinite or more like speaking about the service in a general sense. With -in, it sounds like a specific, known service.

Whether you use the definite form depends on context.

A rough learner-friendly guide would be something like:

HAY-ma-hyoo-kruh-nin

A few important points:

• ei in Heima- sounds roughly like ay
• hj in modern Icelandic is often pronounced a bit like hy
• ú sounds like a long oo
• the rolled or tapped r in byrjar and hjúkrunin is important in careful speech

A rough pronunciation of the whole sentence is:

HAY-ma-hyoo-kruh-nin BIR-yar ee dag

That is only approximate, but it may help you get started.

Yes — very much so. Icelandic loves compounds.

A common pattern is:

• first element narrows the meaning
• second element is the main noun

In heimahjúkrun:

• heima- tells you the setting: at home
• hjúkrun tells you the main category: nursing / care

The second part is the head of the compound, so the whole word behaves grammatically like hjúkrun: it keeps its gender and its inflection pattern.

That is a very useful principle when learning Icelandic compounds.