Þegar vaskaklúturinn þornar, verður hann stífur og óþægilegur.

When the dishcloth dries, it becomes stiff and uncomfortable.

Breakdown of Þegar vaskaklúturinn þornar, verður hann stífur og óþægilegur.

• þegar: when
• og: and
• verða: to become
• hann: it
• vaskaklúturinn: the dishcloth
• þorna: to dry
• stífur: stiff
• óþægilegur: uncomfortable

Questions & Answers about Þegar vaskaklúturinn þornar, verður hann stífur og óþægilegur.

Why is there a comma after þornar?

In Icelandic it’s normal to put a comma between a subordinate clause and the main clause:

• Þegar vaskaklúturinn þornar, = subordinate when-clause
• verður hann stífur og óþægilegur. = main clause
  So the comma marks the boundary between the two clauses.

What does þegar do grammatically, and does it change word order?

Þegar is a subordinating conjunction meaning when. It introduces a subordinate clause, but Icelandic still keeps normal verb-second order inside that clause:

• Þegar vaskaklúturinn þornar (Subject vaskaklúturinn
  • Verb þornar)

The main clause after the comma also keeps verb-second order (see the next question).

Why is the verb verður at the beginning of the second clause?

Because the sentence starts with a subordinate clause, the main clause uses inversion (verb-first in practice): the finite verb comes first, then the subject.

• Base order: Hann verður stífur og óþægilegur.
• After a fronted clause: Þegar … , verður hann …

This is the same V2 principle you see in German/Dutch, but it’s very regular in Icelandic too.

What exactly is vaskaklúturinn—how is that form built?

It’s vaskaklútur (washcloth) + the attached definite article:

• vaskaklútur = an (unspecified) washcloth
• vaskaklúturinn = the washcloth

The ending -inn is the masculine nominative singular definite article attached to the noun.

Why is vaskaklúturinn masculine, and how does that affect the rest of the sentence?

Nouns in Icelandic have grammatical gender. Vaskaklútur is masculine, so:

• the definite ending is masculine (-inn)
• the pronoun referring to it is masculine (hann)
• the adjectives describing it appear in masculine nominative singular (stífur, óþægilegur)

Gender here is grammatical, not “natural.”

Why does the sentence use hann (he/it) instead of repeating the noun?

Icelandic often uses a pronoun to refer back to a noun in the previous clause, especially to avoid repetition:

• Þegar vaskaklúturinn þornar, verður hann … = When the washcloth dries, it becomes …

Because vaskaklúturinn is masculine, the pronoun is hann (even though English would always use it).

Why are the adjectives stífur and óþægilegur in that exact form?

They agree with the subject (hann = masculine nominative singular):

• stífur = masculine nominative singular
• óþægilegur = masculine nominative singular

If the noun were feminine or neuter, you’d see different endings (e.g., feminine often -stíf / neuter often -stíft, depending on the adjective).

Why is it verður (becomes) instead of er (is)?

Verða expresses a change of state (become, get), not a static description:

• verður stífur = becomes/gets stiff
• er stífur = is stiff (already in that state)

Drying is a process leading to a new condition, so verður is the natural choice.

Is þornar present tense, and can it still mean something like “will dry”?

Yes, þornar is present tense (dries), but Icelandic present tense commonly covers:

• habitual/general statements: When X dries, it becomes…
• future-like meaning in time clauses: When it dries (in the future), it becomes…

So present tense is normal here even when the situation could be future.

What’s the difference between þorna and something like þurrka?

They’re related but not the same:

• þorna = to dry (by itself) / become dry (intransitive): klúturinn þornar
• þurrka = to dry something (actively) (transitive): Ég þurrka klútinn = I dry the cloth

This sentence uses þornar because the washcloth is the thing undergoing drying, not something being dried by a person.