Affermum við flutningabílinn í dag þrátt fyrir rispuna og beygluna?

Because this is a yes/no question.

In Icelandic, a normal statement would usually be:

• Við affermum flutningabílinn í dag.
  We are unloading the truck today.

But in a yes/no question, the finite verb typically comes first:

• Affermum við flutningabílinn í dag?
  Are we unloading the truck today?

So this is the usual question word order: verb + subject + rest.

Affermum is the 1st person plural present form of the verb að afferma.

So:

• að afferma = to unload
• við affermum = we unload / we are unloading

In this sentence, because it is a question, the verb comes first:

• Affermum við ... ? = Are we unloading ... ?

Because Icelandic normally does not drop subject pronouns the way some other languages do.

Even though affermum clearly has the we ending, you still usually say:

• við affermum
• affermum við?

So við is not optional here in normal standard Icelandic. The verb ending helps identify the person, but the subject pronoun is still normally expressed.

Because flutningabílinn is the accusative singular definite form, and it is the direct object of afferma.

The base noun is:

• flutningabíll = moving truck / transport truck

Its definite forms include:

• flutningabíllinn = the moving truck (nominative)
• flutningabílinn = the moving truck (accusative)

Since að afferma takes a direct object, Icelandic uses the accusative here:

• Affermum við flutningabílinn ... ?

So the form is different because of case.

Þrátt fyrir means despite or in spite of.

It introduces something that does not stop the action from happening:

• þrátt fyrir rispuna og beygluna
  = despite the scratch and the dent

It is best learned as a fixed expression: þrátt fyrir + accusative.

Because both nouns are:

1. definite: the scratch, the dent
2. in the accusative singular
3. after þrátt fyrir, which takes the accusative

The nouns are:

• rispa = scratch
• beygla = dent

Their accusative definite forms are:

• rispuna = the scratch
• beygluna = the dent

So:

• þrátt fyrir rispuna og beygluna
  literally: despite the scratch and the dent

The -na / -una part includes the suffixed definite article.

Because Icelandic usually has a suffixed definite article.

So instead of a separate word like English the, Icelandic often adds the article to the noun itself:

• bíll = truck
• bíllinn / bílinn = the truck
• rispa = scratch
• rispan / rispuna = the scratch
• beygla = dent
• beyglan / beygluna = the dent

That is why you see forms like flutningabílinn, rispuna, and beygluna.

It means unloading the truck, in the sense of taking the cargo out of it.

This works like English unload the truck. You are not dismantling or removing the truck itself; you are removing what is in it.

So flutningabílinn is the thing being unloaded from, but it still appears as the direct object in Icelandic.

No, it is fairly flexible, although the version here is very natural.

This sentence has:

• Affermum við flutningabílinn í dag þrátt fyrir rispuna og beygluna?

Here í dag comes after the object, which sounds natural and clear.

You can often move time expressions around in Icelandic, but not every position sounds equally natural in every context. The version in the sentence is a good standard choice.

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Icelandic.

It is made from:

• flutninga- = related to moving / transport
• bíll = car / truck / vehicle

So flutningabíll literally means something like transport vehicle, and in context it usually means moving truck or transport truck.

Compound nouns are extremely common in Icelandic, so it is useful to get used to seeing long words built from smaller parts.

Because the speaker is referring to a specific scratch and a specific dent, not just any scratch or dent.

So:

• rispu would be a scratch in the accusative
• rispuna is the scratch
• beyglu would be a dent
• beygluna is the dent

Using the definite forms suggests that both speaker and listener already know which damage is being talked about.