Á þriðjudag hittumst við á torginu gegnt kirkjunni klukkan ellefu.

Because Icelandic main clauses normally follow a verb-second pattern. If you put a time expression first, like Á þriðjudag, the finite verb usually comes next, and the subject follows it:

Á þriðjudag + hittumst + við

If you started with the subject instead, that would also be correct:

Við hittumst á þriðjudag ...

But once Á þriðjudag is in first position, hittumst is expected in second position.

Hittumst comes from the verb hittast, which means to meet each other / to meet.

The ending -st is very important. It often gives a verb a middle/reflexive/reciprocal sense. So:

• hitta = meet, find, or run into someone
• hittast = meet each other

So hittumst við means we meet or we meet each other.

It is one word because this -st ending is built into the verb form, not written as a separate word.

This is a very good question, because forms like hittumst can sometimes be understood from context rather than from the verb form alone.

In Icelandic, the present tense is often used for planned future events, especially when a time expression is present. So a sentence like this can naturally mean we’ll meet on Tuesday at eleven.

In some contexts, the same form can also match a past form, so the surrounding time words and situation tell you what is meant.

So the short answer is:

• Icelandic often uses the present for scheduled future events.
• Context tells you how to understand hittumst.

The two á phrases are doing different jobs:

• á þriðjudag = on Tuesday → time expression
• á torginu = in/on the square → location

The preposition á can take different cases depending on meaning.

In this sentence:

• á þriðjudag uses the accusative in a fixed day-of-the-week time expression
• á torginu uses the dative because it describes location rather than movement

A useful rule is:

• á + dative = location, being somewhere
• á + accusative = movement onto something, or certain fixed expressions such as days

Because both nouns are in inflected forms, and both are definite.

Icelandic usually attaches the to the end of the noun instead of writing a separate word.

So:

• torg = square / plaza
• torginu = the square in the dative singular

And:

• kirkja = church
• kirkjunni = the church in the dative singular

Why dative?

• á torginu: á takes dative here because this is a location
• gegnt kirkjunni: gegnt also takes the dative

So these endings are showing both case and definiteness.

Gegnt means opposite, facing, or across from.

Here, gegnt kirkjunni means opposite the church or across from the church.

It takes the dative, which is why you get kirkjunni rather than a basic dictionary form.

So the phrase:

á torginu gegnt kirkjunni

means something like:

in the square opposite the church

Yes, you may also hear á þriðjudaginn, but á þriðjudag is a very common neutral way to say on Tuesday.

Very roughly:

• á þriðjudag = on Tuesday in a general or neutral sense
• á þriðjudaginn = often more specific or definite, like on the Tuesday already understood from context

In everyday speech, usage can vary, but for learners, á + weekday without the article is an excellent standard pattern to know.

Klukkan literally comes from klukka, meaning clock.

So klukkan ellefu literally looks like the clock eleven, but idiomatically it means:

at eleven o’clock

This is a very common Icelandic way to give the time:

• klukkan eitt = at one o’clock
• klukkan þrjú = at three o’clock
• klukkan ellefu = at eleven o’clock

So you can think of klukkan as a fixed time marker in expressions like this.

The two special letters are:

• þ = the th sound in thing
• ð = the th sound in this

So in þriðjudag:

• the first sound þ is like English th in thin
• the ð is like English th in this
• j is pronounced like English y

A rough English-friendly guide would be something like:

THRITH-yu-dag

That is only approximate, but it helps. Also remember that Icelandic stress normally falls on the first syllable.

Often yes, but you need to respect Icelandic word-order rules, especially verb-second in main clauses.

For example, these are all natural:

• Á þriðjudag hittumst við á torginu gegnt kirkjunni klukkan ellefu.
• Við hittumst á þriðjudag á torginu gegnt kirkjunni klukkan ellefu.
• Klukkan ellefu hittumst við á torginu gegnt kirkjunni á þriðjudag.

The emphasis changes depending on what comes first, but the basic meaning can stay the same.

What you usually cannot do in a normal main clause is put one element first and then leave the finite verb later than second position.

Because they behave differently in the sentence.

• torginu and kirkjunni refer to specific, identifiable places: the square, the church
• þriðjudag is part of a standard time expression meaning on Tuesday, where the bare weekday form is very common

So this is not unusual at all. Icelandic often treats:

• days of the week in time expressions as bare forms
• places as definite if the speaker has a specific place in mind

That is why the combination á þriðjudag ... á torginu gegnt kirkjunni sounds perfectly natural.