Ég borða súpuna.

• Ég = the subject pronoun, I
• borða = the verb, present tense of borða, eat
• súpuna = the direct object, the soup

So the structure is:

subject + verb + object

That is the normal, neutral word order here.

Because súpa is the basic dictionary form, but in this sentence the noun is:

• definite: the soup
• a direct object
• singular

In Icelandic, nouns change form depending on case, and the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun. So súpa becomes súpuna here.

Not exactly by itself. Icelandic usually puts the as a suffix on the noun, but the exact ending changes depending on:

• gender
• case
• number

So in súpuna, the definite article is built into the ending, but -na is not a universal form of the for every noun.

For example, the same noun can appear as:

• súpa = soup
• súpan = the soup, nominative
• súpuna = the soup, accusative

So the ending changes with grammar.

Because súpan is the nominative definite form, but here the noun is the direct object of borða, so Icelandic uses the accusative.

• súpan = the soup, as a subject
• súpuna = the soup, as a direct object

A learner often notices this by comparing:

• Súpan er heit = The soup is hot
• Ég borða súpuna = I eat the soup

Same noun, different case.

• ég is nominative because it is the subject
• súpuna is accusative because it is the direct object

This is one of the most important patterns in Icelandic: the subject is often nominative, and the direct object is often accusative.

Because it agrees with ég, first person singular, in the present tense.

The verb borða conjugates like this in the present:

• ég borða = I eat
• þú borðar = you eat
• hann/hún/það borðar = he/she/it eats

So borða is the correct form with ég.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Ég borða súpuna can mean:

• I eat the soup
• I am eating the soup

Icelandic often uses the simple present where English might use either the simple present or the present continuous.

If you want to be more explicitly progressive, Icelandic often uses:

Ég er að borða súpuna = I am eating the soup

So the sentence you have is perfectly normal, but context decides how natural English should translate it.

Because Icelandic does not build the present continuous the same way English does.

English uses:

I am eating

But Icelandic often just uses the present tense:

Ég borða

If you specifically want the idea of in the middle of doing it right now, Icelandic commonly says:

Ég er að borða

So English needs am, but Icelandic often does not.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• Ég ≈ yeg
• borða ≈ BOR-tha
• súpuna ≈ SOO-pu-na

A few helpful notes:

• é sounds roughly like ye
• ð sounds like th in this
• ú sounds like oo
• stress usually falls on the first syllable of Icelandic words

So the whole sentence is roughly:

YEG BOR-tha SOO-pu-na

Usually, no. Icelandic normally keeps the subject pronoun in ordinary sentences.

So the natural form is:

Ég borða súpuna

Even though the verb form gives some information, Icelandic is not like Spanish or Italian, where subject pronouns are very often dropped.

Yes, but the normal neutral order is:

Ég borða súpuna

Icelandic can move elements for emphasis or style. For example:

Súpuna borða ég

That can sound more marked, like emphasizing the soup. But it is not the plain default order.

A useful rule for learners is:

• start with subject + verb + object
• learn alternative word orders later

The dictionary forms are:

• ég = I
• borða = to eat
• súpa = soup

So when you look up súpuna in a dictionary, you usually need to know that the base noun is súpa. This is very common in Icelandic, because nouns often appear in changed forms in real sentences.