Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Skýjin hverfa þegar sól og þögn mætast. - The clouds disappear when sun and silence meet.

hverfa is an intransitive verb meaning to vanish or disappear. In this sentence the subject skýjin is plural (the clouds), so the verb appears in its 3rd person plural present form, which is spelled exactly like the infinitive, i.e. hverfa. The 3rd person singular form would be hverfur.

Why is the word for clouds written skýjin? What do the -in and the extra j do?

The suffix -in is the definite article in the plural for neuter nouns, so ský (cloud) becomes skýin (the clouds). When attaching -in to a stem ending in a vowel, Icelandic often inserts an epenthetic j to avoid a vowel clash. The j has no added meaning beyond smoothing pronunciation.

Why are sól and þögn in the nominative case here?

They serve as the subjects of the subordinate clause þegar sól og þögn mætast. In Icelandic, subjects are always in the nominative case, and when two subjects are joined by og they share the same case form.

Why is there no article before sól and þögn like there was with skýjin?

In Icelandic, omitting the definite article marks general or indefinite reference. Here sól and þögn refer to sun and silence in a general, poetic sense rather than specific, so they remain bare nouns without the suffix -in.

What does mætast mean, and why the -ast ending?

mætast is the reciprocal (or middle) form of mæta meaning to meet. The -st suffix signals that the subjects perform the action on each other. So sól og þögn mætast literally means sun and silence meet one another.

Why does the verb mætast appear at the end of the clause instead of second in the subordinate clause?

Icelandic subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like þegar follow verb-final word order (often called V3), so the finite verb moves to the end of the clause rather than occupying the second position as it would in a main clause.

What role does the conjunction þegar play, and how is it used?

þegar means when (in a temporal sense) and introduces a subordinate clause describing time. It cannot be followed by að – you simply place it before the clause in which the verb goes to the end.

How do you pronounce skýjin, hverfa, and mætast, and where is the stress?

Stress always falls on the first syllable: SKÝ-jin, HVER-fa, MÆT-ast. The ý in ský is a long vowel [iː], hv in hverfa is pronounced [kʰv], and æ in mætast sounds roughly like the English eye.