Brauðristin er gömul, en hún virkar enn vel.

Brauðristin means the toaster.

It is made up of:

• brauðrist = toaster
• -in = the definite article the

In Icelandic, the is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of written as a separate word.

So:

• brauðrist = a toaster / toaster
• brauðristin = the toaster

This noun is also feminine, which matters for other words in the sentence.

Because brauðristin is a feminine singular noun, the adjective has to match it.

The adjective gamall means old, but it changes form depending on gender:

• gamall = masculine
• gömul = feminine
• gamalt = neuter

Since brauðristin is feminine, Icelandic uses:

• Brauðristin er gömul = The toaster is old

This is called agreement: the adjective agrees with the noun in gender, and often also in number and case.

Because Icelandic does not use just one general pronoun like English it for all things.

Instead, Icelandic pronouns usually follow the noun’s grammatical gender:

• hann = he / it for masculine nouns
• hún = she / it for feminine nouns
• það = it for neuter nouns

Since brauðrist is feminine, the sentence uses hún:

• hún virkar enn vel = it still works well

This does not mean Icelanders think a toaster is female in a real-world sense. It is simply grammatical gender.

Er means is.

It is the present tense of the verb vera = to be.

So:

• Brauðristin er gömul = The toaster is old

Some common forms of vera are:

• ég er = I am
• þú ert = you are
• hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is

Virkar means works or functions.

It comes from the verb virka, which often means:

• to work
• to function
• to be effective

So:

• hún virkar = it works

In this sentence, it means the toaster still functions properly.

Enn vel means still well.

The two words are:

• enn = still
• vel = well

So:

• hún virkar enn vel = it still works well

A useful point here is that vel is an adverb, not an adjective. Icelandic uses vel where English uses well.

Compare:

• góður / góð / gott = good
• vel = well

So after a verb like virkar (works), Icelandic uses vel, not an adjective meaning good.

Because en means but, and the sentence joins two clauses:

• Brauðristin er gömul
• hún virkar enn vel

So the whole sentence is:

• The toaster is old, but it still works well.

Using a comma before en here is normal and natural.

Here, en means but.

In many sentences, it works very much like English but, connecting two contrasting ideas:

• Brauðristin er gömul, en hún virkar enn vel.
• The toaster is old, but it still works well.

It is one of the most common Icelandic conjunctions.

It is in the nominative singular.

That is because it is the subject of the sentence:

• Brauðristin er gömul = The toaster is old
• hún virkar enn vel = it still works well

In dictionary form, the noun is brauðrist. Here it appears as the definite nominative singular form brauðristin.

The basic word order is quite similar to English here:

• Brauðristin = subject
• er = verb
• gömul = complement

Then:

• en = but
• hún = subject
• virkar = verb
• enn vel = adverbial part

So the pattern is basically:

• Subject + verb + complement
• but + subject + verb + adverb

This sentence is straightforward for learners because it follows a very familiar order.

You could match the words that way mechanically, but it would not be natural English.

A rough word-for-word breakdown is:

• hún = she / it
• virkar = works
• enn = still
• vel = well

Natural English becomes:

• it still works well

So literal word order and natural translation are not always the same.

A rough learner-friendly guide might be:

• Brauðristin ≈ BROYTH-ris-tin
• er ≈ er (short, like air without fully stretching it)
• gömul ≈ GUH-mul or GER-mul depending on accent approximation
• en ≈ en
• hún ≈ hoon
• virkar ≈ VIR-kar
• enn ≈ en
• vel ≈ veh-l

A few important pronunciation notes:

• ð is a soft sound, like th in this
• ú is like oo
• ö does not exist in English exactly; learners often approximate it at first

This kind of approximation is only a starting point, but it can help you begin reading the sentence aloud.

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article on the end of the noun instead of using a separate word before it.

So English:

• the toaster

Icelandic:

• brauðristin

This is a very common feature of Icelandic nouns and something English speakers often notice early on.

Yes, it is very natural.

The sentence:

• Brauðristin er gömul, en hún virkar enn vel.

is a normal, idiomatic way to say:

• The toaster is old, but it still works well.

It sounds like an ordinary everyday statement about an appliance.