Íslenskan verður auðveldari með æfingu.

Íslenskan is the definite form of the noun íslenska, meaning the Icelandic language / Icelandic.

• íslenska = Icelandic
• íslenskan = the Icelandic

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.

Here, Íslenskan is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative singular definite form.

It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

In Icelandic, language names are normally not capitalized in the middle of a sentence:

• Ég er að læra íslensku. = I am learning Icelandic.

So if this word appeared later in the sentence, it would normally be íslenskan, not Íslenskan.

Verður is the 3rd person singular present form of verða.

In this sentence, verða means to become:

• Íslenskan verður auðveldari... = Icelandic becomes / gets easier...

A very common learner point is this:

• vera = to be
• verða = to become, or sometimes will be

So verður does not mean simply is here; it means becomes or will become, depending on context.

It can mean either, depending on context.

In Icelandic, the present tense of verða is often used in ways that English might translate as:

• becomes
• gets
• will become

In this sentence, the most natural English idea is usually something like:

• Icelandic gets easier with practice
• Icelandic becomes easier with practice

It expresses a general truth rather than a specific future event.

Auðveldari is the comparative form of auðveldur, which means easy.

So:

• auðveldur = easy
• auðveldari = easier

Icelandic often forms the comparative by adding -ari or -ri, rather than using a separate word like English more.

Here, auðveldari agrees with Íslenskan. Since íslenska is feminine singular, the form auðveldari is the correct one here.

Icelandic, like English, can use a comparative without explicitly saying what the comparison is.

So auðveldari simply means easier, with the comparison understood from context: for example, easier than before, easier than at the beginning, easier than it seems at first, and so on.

If you wanted to say the comparison explicitly, you could add a phrase with en = than.

Literally, með æfingu means with practice.

Here með means with, but in this kind of sentence it has the sense of:

• with
• through
• by means of
• as a result of

So the phrase means that practice is the thing that makes Icelandic easier.

Because með takes the dative case here.

The noun is:

• æfing = practice

But after með, it changes to the dative singular:

• með æfingu = with practice

So this is a case ending, not a different word.

A learner-friendly way to remember it is:

• dictionary form: æfing
• after með: æfingu

Because this sentence is talking about practice in general, not a specific instance of practice.

So:

• með æfingu = with practice / through practice

If you made it definite, it would sound more like with the practice, referring to some specific practice already mentioned.

Abstract nouns are often left indefinite in this kind of general statement.

Yes. Icelandic word order is fairly flexible, though not completely free.

This sentence has the basic order:

• Íslenskan = subject
• verður = verb
• auðveldari = complement
• með æfingu = prepositional phrase

You could also say:

• Með æfingu verður íslenskan auðveldari.

That version puts more emphasis on with practice.

A key rule in Icelandic main clauses is that the finite verb usually stays in second position.

It is a noun here.

That can be confusing because forms related to nationalities and languages can look similar in Icelandic.

In this sentence:

• Íslenskan = the Icelandic language

So it is not describing another noun; it is itself the thing being talked about.

The accent marks are part of the spelling and matter for pronunciation.

A few useful points:

• Í is a separate vowel letter, not just an optional accent.
• æ is also its own vowel sound.
• The accent marks do not mean the stress goes there.

In Icelandic, word stress is usually on the first syllable, so in both Íslenskan and æfingu, the first syllable is stressed.