Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Við förum í stutt hlé eftir fyrstu æfinguna. - We take a short break after the first exercise.

Icelandic usually uses the present tense to talk about planned or near-future actions, so Við förum í stutt hlé naturally means We’ll go for / We’re going to take a short break in context, even though it’s literally We go into a short break.

There is no special future tense in Icelandic; context + present tense usually cover it.

Why is the preposition í used here, and what does it mean in this sentence?

Í most often means in / into / to. With places or states, it works like this:

Í + accusative → movement into something
- fara í skóla – to go to school
- fara í bíó – to go to the cinema
- fara í hlé – to go into a break / to take a break

So í stutt hlé literally is into a short break. That’s why the verb fara fits: fara í X is a very common pattern for going into some activity/state.

What case is hlé in, and why doesn’t it change its form?

Here hlé is in the accusative singular after í, because we have movement into a state (going into a break).

However, the noun hlé is neuter and belongs to a group of neuter nouns that have the same form in nominative and accusative:

(nf./nom.) hlé – a break
(þf./acc.) hlé – a break

So even though the case changes (nominative → accusative), the form stays the same. You only see the case difference if you add an adjective or an article, for example:

stutt hlé – short break (accusative here because of í)
í stuttu hléi – in a short break (dative; different structure/meaning)

Why is it í stutt hlé and not í stuttu hléi here?

The difference is motion vs. location:

Í + accusative → movement into something
- fara í stutt hlé – to go into a short break (start a break)
Í + dative → being inside something (no movement)
- vera í stuttu hléi – to be in a short break (currently in it)

In your sentence: Við förum í stutt hlé – you are entering the break, so accusative (stutt hlé) is correct.

Why is the adjective stutt in this form, and not something like stutta?

Stutt is the neuter, singular, strong form of the adjective stuttur (short) in nominative/accusative.

Key points:

hlé is neuter singular
with í
- accusative (movement), hlé is accusative neuter singular
the adjective must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case
→ neuter, singular, accusative → stutt

So:

stuttur stóll – a short chair (masc. nom. sg.)
stutt gata – a short street (fem. nom. sg.)
stutt hlé – a short break (neut. nom./acc. sg.)

Adjective endings are not the same across genders, which is why you see -ur, zero ending, or -t in different places.

Why is eftir used here, and what case does it take?

In this sentence, eftir means after (in time) and it takes the accusative:

eftir helgina – after the weekend
eftir leikinn – after the game
eftir fyrstu æfinguna – after the first practice

Eftir can take different cases with different meanings, but:

eftir + accusative → after (time) is the pattern you need here.

Why is it fyrstu æfinguna and not fyrsta æfinguna?

Two things are happening:

Fyrsti is an ordinal adjective (first, second, third, …).
The noun æfinguna is definite (the exercise/practice), with the article attached (-una).

When an adjective comes before a definite noun (with the article on the noun), the adjective takes the weak declension.

For fyrsti (weak, feminine, accusative singular), the correct form is:

fyrstu (not fyrsta)

So:

fyrsta æfing – would be wrong in this role
fyrsta æfingin – the first practice (adjective strong, noun definite by article)
fyrstu æfinguna – the first practice in the role after eftir (accusative), with weak adjective + definite noun

In your sentence, eftir requires accusative, the noun is definite, and the adjective is weak → fyrstu æfinguna.

What does the ending -una in æfinguna mean?

Æfinguna is:

æfing – practice/exercise/rehearsal (feminine)
æfingu – accusative singular
æfinguna – accusative singular definite (the practice)

The suffix -na (here -una because of the stem) is the definite article (the) attached to a feminine noun in accusative singular.

So:

æfing – a practice
æfingu – a practice (in an object role)
æfinguna – the practice (object)

What does æfing actually mean here: exercise, practice, or rehearsal?

Æfing is a general word that can mean:

exercise (in a textbook or workout)
practice / training (sports, skills)
rehearsal (music, theatre)

The exact English word depends on context:

in sports → training session/practice
in music/theatre → rehearsal
in schoolwork → exercise

The Icelandic sentence itself doesn’t specify; context (e.g. are we in a gym, choir, class?) tells you which English word fits best.

Could I say Við tökum stutt hlé eftir fyrstu æfinguna instead? Is that natural?

Yes, that is grammatically correct and natural.

Difference in nuance:

Við förum í stutt hlé – literally we go into a short break
Við tökum stutt hlé – literally we take a short break

Both are idiomatic ways to say we take a short break. Fara í hlé is very common; taka hlé is also perfectly normal. You can choose either.

Can the word order change, e.g. Eftir fyrstu æfinguna förum við í stutt hlé?

Yes. That word order is correct and natural:

Við förum í stutt hlé eftir fyrstu æfinguna.
Eftir fyrstu æfinguna förum við í stutt hlé.

Icelandic often moves time or place expressions to the beginning of the sentence for emphasis or flow. The basic meaning doesn’t change; starting with Eftir fyrstu æfinguna just puts more focus on the time frame: After the first practice, we go for a short break.

Could you clarify the difference between eftir and á eftir in time expressions?

Both relate to time, but they’re used differently:

eftir + accusative → after [something]
- eftir fyrstu æfinguna – after the first practice
- eftir kvöldmatinn – after dinner
á eftir (usually by itself) → later / afterwards
- Við förum í hlé á eftir. – We’ll take a break later / afterwards.

So your sentence uses eftir because you specify after what (after the first practice). If you just wanted to say later, with no specific event, you’d use á eftir instead.