Ég borða mat.

I eat food.

Breakdown of Ég borða mat.

• ég: I
• borða: to eat
• maturinn: the food

Questions & Answers about Ég borða mat.

Why is it mat and not matur?

Because mat is the accusative form, and matur is the nominative form.

In this sentence, mat is the direct object of borða (to eat), so Icelandic uses the accusative:

• matur = nominative, used for the subject
• mat = accusative, used for the object

So:

• Matur er góður. = Food is good.
  Here food is the subject, so it is matur.
• Ég borða mat. = I eat food.
  Here food is the object, so it is mat.

What form of the verb is borða here?

Here, borða is the present tense, specifically first person singular: I eat.

With borða (to eat), the present tense goes like this:

• ég borða = I eat
• þú borðar = you eat
• hann/hún/það borðar = he/she/it eats
• við borðum = we eat
• þið borðið = you all eat
• þeir/þær/þau borða = they eat

So in Ég borða mat, the verb agrees with ég.