Við setjum pottaplöntuna í gluggakistuna, þar sem hún fær þar meiri sól.

Setjum is the 1st person plural present tense of að setja (to put, set, place).

• við = we
• við setjum = we put / we are putting

So the verb matches the subject við. Icelandic verbs change form depending on the subject and tense, so learners often need to notice that setjum specifically means we put.

Icelandic makes heavy use of compound nouns, much more than English.

pottaplanta = potted plant / pot plant

It is built from:

• pottur = pot
• planta = plant

When Icelandic combines words, they are usually written as one word, not two separate words. That is very normal in Icelandic.

The form pottaplöntuna is not just the base noun, though. It also includes:

• the definite article (the), attached to the end
• the correct case ending

So pottaplöntuna means the potted plant in the form required by the sentence.

That ending reflects two things at once:

1. the noun is definite (the)
2. the noun is in the accusative singular

Both nouns are feminine singular nouns here:

• pottaplanta → pottaplöntuna
• gluggakista → gluggakistuna

In Icelandic, the word for the is often attached to the end of the noun instead of standing separately in front of it.

So:

• pottaplanta = a potted plant
• pottaplöntan = the potted plant (nominative)
• pottaplöntuna = the potted plant (accusative)

The same kind of thing happens with gluggakista.

Because í can take different cases depending on whether there is movement or location.

• accusative after í = motion into/to a place
• dative after í = being in a place

Here, the plant is being moved to the windowsill area:

• Við setjum pottaplöntuna í gluggakistuna = We put the potted plant into/onto the windowsill

If you were describing where it already is, you would normally use the dative:

• Pottaplantan er í gluggakistunni = The potted plant is in the windowsill / on the windowsill

So this is a very common Icelandic pattern:
movement → accusative, location → dative.

This is partly a matter of how the place is conceptualized in Icelandic.

gluggakista is the normal word for a windowsill, but Icelandic often treats it as more of a space or recess than English does. Because of that, í gluggakistuna / í gluggakistunni is very natural.

So even if English prefers on the windowsill, Icelandic may use í.

This is one of those places where a direct word-for-word preposition match with English does not always work well.

In this sentence, þar sem most naturally means since / because.

So the clause means something like:

• because it gets more sun there
• since it gets more sun there

Important: þar sem can also mean where, depending on context. That is why it can confuse learners.

Here, because the clause gives a reason for putting the plant in the windowsill, the because/since meaning is the best fit.

Because the two þar words are doing different jobs.

• þar sem = a fixed expression meaning since/because here
• the later þar = the ordinary adverb there

So in:

• þar sem hún fær þar meiri sól

the first þar is not really the location word there in the usual sense; it is part of the conjunction þar sem. The second þar is the actual location word: there.

That said, an English-speaking learner may still feel the sentence is a bit repetitive. That is understandable. Icelandic speakers might also choose other ways to say it, for example:

• ..., þar sem hún fær meiri sól.
• ..., af því að hún fær meiri sól þar.

But the version with both is understandable because the two þar elements have different functions.

Because pottaplanta is a feminine noun in Icelandic.

In Icelandic, pronouns often follow grammatical gender, not natural biological sex. So a plant can be referred to as:

• hún if the noun is feminine
• hann if the noun is masculine
• það if the noun is neuter

Since pottaplanta is feminine, the sentence uses hún.

This is very normal in Icelandic and does not mean the plant is literally female.

Because meiri has to agree with sól, and sól is a feminine singular noun.

meiri is the comparative form of mikill (much / big / great, depending on context). In this sentence it means more.

With sól, the correct form is meiri:

• meiri sól = more sun

A learner may expect meira, because meira is a very common form meaning more, but meira is not the right agreement form here.

So:

• meiri sól = correct
• meira sól = not correct here

It actually is in the case required by the sentence, but the form happens to look the same.

The verb fá (to get, receive) takes a direct object, and that object is usually in the accusative. Here, sól is the thing being received:

• hún fær meiri sól = it gets more sun

For the noun sól, the nominative singular and accusative singular are both sól, so there is no visible difference in spelling.

So the case is still important grammatically, even though you cannot see a different ending here.

This is a good example of subordinate clause word order in Icelandic.

In the main clause:

• Við setjum pottaplöntuna í gluggakistuna

Icelandic normally follows the familiar verb-second pattern.

But after a subordinating expression like þar sem, the clause is subordinate, and the word order changes:

• hún fær þar meiri sól

Here:

• hún = subject
• fær = finite verb
• þar = adverb
• meiri sól = object phrase

So the order is perfectly normal for a subordinate clause.

English speakers often notice Icelandic word order because Icelandic is stricter about these patterns than English in some contexts.

It is another compound noun:

• gluggi = window
• kista = chest, box

So gluggakista literally looks like something like window-box, but in actual use it means windowsill.

This is a nice example of how Icelandic compounds can be understood piece by piece, even when the natural English translation is not literal.

The present tense in Icelandic can do both, just like English in some contexts.

Við setjum ... can mean:

• We put ... as a general or habitual action, or
• We are putting ... depending on context

Icelandic does not always need a separate form like English are putting. The simple present often covers both meanings, and the situation tells you which one is intended.