Ég skipti um skyrtu áður en ég fer í vinnu.

I change my shirt before I go to work.

Breakdown of Ég skipti um skyrtu áður en ég fer í vinnu.

• ég: I
• fara: to go
• í: to
• áður en: before
• vinnan: the work
• skyrtan: the shirt
• skipta um: to change

Questions & Answers about Ég skipti um skyrtu áður en ég fer í vinnu.

Why does it say skipti um instead of just skipti? What does um add?

In Icelandic, skipta um is a fixed verb + particle meaning to change (clothes/things). The particle um is part of the meaning here; without it, skipta usually means to divide/share/exchange depending on context (e.g., skipta köku = divide a cake, skipta um peninga = exchange money—still uses um in that sense too).
So Ég skipti um skyrtu is the normal way to say I change my shirt / I change into another shirt.

What tense is skipti here? I’ve seen skipti used as “I changed” too.

You’re noticing a real ambiguity: skipti can be present (“I change”) and also past (“I changed”) for the verb skipta.
In this full sentence, the other verb helps: ég fer is clearly present (past would be ég fór). So this sentence is normally read as present/habitual (or present with future meaning): I change my shirt before I go to work.

Why is the second verb fer (present) if the English would often use “before I go” / “before I’m going” / sometimes “before I will go”?

After áður en (before), Icelandic typically uses the present tense in the subordinate clause even when it refers to the future.
So áður en ég fer í vinnu is natural for “before I go to work” (including “before I go to work [later today]”).

Why is ég repeated? Can I say Ég skipti um skyrtu áður en fer í vinnu?

Normally, you keep the subject in the subordinate clause: áður en ég fer…
Dropping ég would sound incomplete/unnatural in standard Icelandic. Icelandic doesn’t usually omit subjects the way some languages do.

What case is skyrtu and why?

Skyrtu is accusative singular of skyrta (a shirt). With skipta um, the thing you change (shirt/clothes/etc.) is typically in the accusative:

• skipta um skyrtu
• skipta um föt
• skipta um skó

What’s going on with áður en grammatically—does it change word order?

Yes. Áður en introduces a subordinate clause. In subordinate clauses, Icelandic does not use the main-clause V2 inversion pattern.
So you get normal subject–verb order: áður en ég fer… (not áður en fer ég…).

Could I put the time phrase first, like “Before I go to work, I change my shirt”? What happens to word order then?

Yes, and then Icelandic uses V2 in the main clause, so the verb comes right after the fronted phrase:

• Áður en ég fer í vinnu skipti ég um skyrtu.
  Notice it becomes skipti ég (verb before subject) because the sentence starts with the subordinate clause.

Why í vinnu and not til vinnu or something else?

Fara í vinnu is the most common idiom for go to work (go into work / go to your job).
Other options exist but can feel different:

• fara til vinnu can sound more like “go to work” in a literal destination sense, but it’s less idiomatic than í vinnu in everyday speech.
• fara á vinnustaðinn = go to the workplace (more specific and literal).

Is vinnu accusative or dative after í? I learned í can take both.

Rule: í + accusative often signals movement into; í + dative often signals location. With fara í …, it’s conceptually movement, so accusative is expected.
However, for vinna the accusative singular and dative singular are both vinnu, so you can’t see the difference in the form here.

What’s the difference between skyrtu and skyrtuna here?

• Ég skipti um skyrtu = I change (into) a shirt / I change shirts (non-specific).
• Ég skipti um skyrtuna = I change the shirt (a specific one we’ve already identified).
  With clothing, the indefinite version is very common unless you need to specify a particular shirt.

How would I negate this sentence?

You place ekki after the verb phrase (commonly after the object/particle chunk):

• Ég skipti ekki um skyrtu áður en ég fer í vinnu. = I don’t change my shirt before I go to work.
  You can also say Ég skipti um skyrtu ekki…, but Ég skipti ekki um skyrtu… is the usual, neutral placement.

Any pronunciation pitfalls in this sentence for English speakers?

Common tricky bits:

• Ég: the g is a voiced fricative-ish sound [ɣ] (often softened), not an English g.
• áður: áu is a diphthong; ð is like the th in this.
• skyrtu: the y is a front rounded vowel (like German ü); rt is a tight consonant cluster.
• vinnu: double nn affects the preceding vowel length; keep it short and crisp.