Pottaplantan þarf vatn á föstudögum, svo ég vökva hana alltaf á morgnana.

Icelandic very often makes compound nouns as a single word. So pottaplanta is one compound noun meaning potted plant / pot plant.

The ending -an is the suffixed definite article, so:

• pottaplanta = a potted plant
• pottaplantan = the potted plant

That article is attached to the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.

Þ is pronounced like the th in thing, not like the th in this.

So þarf starts with that voiceless th sound.

Þarf is the present-tense form of að þurfa, which means to need.

Here it is 3rd person singular, because the subject is Pottaplantan (the potted plant), which is singular.

So:

• ég þarf = I need
• þú þarft = you need
• pottaplantan þarf = the potted plant needs

Because vatn here means water in a general sense, like a mass noun.

So þarf vatn means needs water, not needs the water.

If you said vatnið, that would mean the water, referring to some specific water already known in the conversation.

In Icelandic, pronouns follow the grammatical gender of the noun, not just natural gender.

Planta is a feminine noun, so when you refer back to it, you use the feminine pronoun.

Also, hana is the accusative form, because it is the direct object of vökva (to water).

So:

• hún = she / it (subject form)
• hana = her / it (object form)

Even though English says it, Icelandic uses the feminine form here because planta is feminine.

Föstudögum is the dative plural form of föstudagur (Friday).

In the expression á föstudögum, Icelandic uses this form to mean on Fridays in a habitual or repeated sense.

So:

• á föstudögum = on Fridays
• not just one Friday, but Fridays in general

This is one of those time expressions that is best learned as a whole phrase.

Because in Icelandic, days of the week are normally not capitalized.

So Icelandic writes:

• mánudagur
• þriðjudagur
• föstudagur

This is different from English, where Monday and Friday are capitalized.

Because Icelandic prepositions do not match English prepositions one-for-one.

Here:

• á föstudögum = on Fridays
• á morgnana = in the mornings

So the same Icelandic preposition á can correspond to different English prepositions depending on the expression.

It is often best to learn these as fixed time phrases rather than trying to translate á the same way every time.

Here svo means so or therefore.

It connects the second clause as a result of the first one:

• the plant needs water on Fridays,
• so I always water it in the mornings.

In other contexts, svo can also mean things like then, depending on the sentence.

Because the clause after svo here is treated like a normal main clause.

So the natural order is:

• ég vökva hana = I water it

That means svo ég vökva hana... is simply so I water it...

For a learner, the important thing is that this is normal and natural word order in this kind of sentence.

Because að vökva is the normal Icelandic verb meaning to water.

So:

• ég vökva hana = I water it

You can also say something like gefa plöntunni vatn (give the plant water), but vökva is the most direct and idiomatic verb here.

Because Icelandic often uses a plural time expression for something habitual or repeated.

So á morgnana means:

• in the mornings
• in the morning, as a regular habit

That fits well with alltaf (always).

Together, alltaf á morgnana means the speaker regularly does this in the morning.

Also, this is not the same as á morgun, which means tomorrow.

Alltaf means always.

It adds frequency: the speaker is not just saying I water it in the mornings, but I always water it in the mornings.

So:

• á morgnana tells you when
• alltaf tells you how regularly

That makes the routine very clear.