Ég strauja skyrtuna mína áður en ég fer í vinnu.

Because skyrtuna is the definite accusative singular form of skyrta (shirt).

Here, skyrtuna is the direct object of strauja (to iron), so Icelandic puts it in the accusative case.

• skyrta = a shirt
• skyrtan = the shirt (nominative)
• skyrtuna = the shirt (accusative)

So Ég strauja skyrtuna mína literally has the structure I iron the shirt my = I iron my shirt.

In Icelandic, possessives often come after the noun, especially when the noun is definite.

So:

• skyrtuna mína = my shirt / the shirt of mine

This is a very common and natural pattern in Icelandic.

The possessive mína agrees with skyrtuna in:

• gender: feminine
• number: singular
• case: accusative

That is why it is mína, not minn or mitt.

A form with the possessive before the noun can exist in some contexts, but skyrtuna mína is the normal, natural way here.

Strauja is the 1st person singular present tense of að strauja (to iron).

So:

• að strauja = to iron
• ég strauja = I iron

For this verb, the infinitive and the I-form in the present tense look the same. That can seem strange to English speakers at first, but it is completely normal in Icelandic.

Áður en is the normal way to say before when it introduces a whole clause.

So:

• áður en ég fer í vinnu = before I go to work

Think of it as a fixed expression:

• áður = before / earlier
• en = than / when introducing this type of comparison-like clause

In this sentence, the two words work together as a conjunction.

If you used only áður, it would not work the same way here.

Because the second part is a full clause: ég fer í vinnu.

Icelandic normally states the subject explicitly in each clause, just as English does here:

• I iron my shirt before I go to work

So the second ég is not optional in normal Icelandic.

Because fer is the correct present tense form of the verb að fara (to go) for ég.

The verb is irregular:

• að fara = to go
• ég fer = I go

So:

• ég fer í vinnu = I go to work

Even though the infinitive is fara, the present singular form is fer.

Í vinnu is the normal idiomatic way to say to work in the sense of going to your job or workplace.

So:

• fara í vinnu = to go to work

Icelandic often does not use the definite article in expressions where English also usually says to work, not to the work.

This phrase is best learned as a set expression.

A useful comparison:

• Ég fer í vinnu. = I go to work.
• Ég er í vinnunni. = I am at work / in the workplace.

The second one is definite and refers more clearly to being at the workplace.

It most naturally sounds like a habit or routine:

• I iron my shirt before I go to work.

That is because Icelandic present tense is often used for regular actions, just like English simple present.

Depending on context, present tense can also refer to a future or near-future event, especially in subordinate time clauses, but without extra context this sentence is most naturally understood as habitual.

The basic word order is:

• Ég = subject
• strauja = verb
• skyrtuna mína = object
• áður en ég fer í vinnu = time clause

So the structure is:

Subject + Verb + Object + Time clause

That is very straightforward and similar to English.

Then Icelandic changes the word order in the main clause because of the verb-second rule.

You get:

Áður en ég fer í vinnu, strauja ég skyrtuna mína.

Notice that it is strauja ég, not ég strauja.

That happens because when something else comes first in the sentence, the finite verb usually takes second position in the main clause.

So both are correct:

• Ég strauja skyrtuna mína áður en ég fer í vinnu.
• Áður en ég fer í vinnu, strauja ég skyrtuna mína.

The meaning is the same, but the emphasis is slightly different.

Only partly. A rough word-for-word version would be:

• Ég = I
• strauja = iron
• skyrtuna mína = the shirt my
• áður en = before
• ég fer í vinnu = I go to work

So literally it looks like:

I iron the shirt my before I go to work.

That shows an important Icelandic pattern: the noun is often definite, and the possessive comes after it.

Natural English drops the definite article in this situation:

I iron my shirt before I go to work.

Yes — three very useful patterns:

1. noun + definite article + possessive

   • skyrtuna mína = my shirt

2. áður en + clause

   • áður en ég fer = before I go

3. fara í vinnu

   • ég fer í vinnu = I go to work

If you remember those patterns, this sentence becomes much easier to understand and build on.