Hún treystir ekki einni umsögn; hún les alltaf nokkrar áður en hún ákveður sig.

Treystir is the present tense form of the verb að treysta (to trust / rely on).

For many Icelandic verbs ending in -a in the infinitive, the present tense, 3rd person singular ends in -ir:

• að treysta → hún treystir
• að tala → hún talar
• að spyrja → hún spyr

So Hún treystir means she trusts or she does not trust, depending on whether ekki is present.

In a normal main clause, Icelandic usually puts the finite verb early in the sentence, and ekki typically comes after that verb.

So:

• Hún treystir ekki ... = She does not trust ...

This is very natural Icelandic word order. English uses do not trust, but Icelandic does not need an extra do-verb here.

A useful pattern is:

• Subject + finite verb + ekki + rest

For example:

• Hann kemur ekki. = He isn’t coming.
• Ég skil ekki. = I don’t understand.

Because the verb að treysta takes the dative case, not the accusative.

So the thing being trusted appears in the dative:

• að treysta einhverju / einhverjum = to trust something / someone

Since umsögn is a feminine noun, singular dative becomes:

• ein → einni
• umsögn → umsögn

So:

• einni umsögn = one single review in the dative singular

Compare:

• Hún les eina umsögn. = She reads one review.
  Here lesa takes the accusative, so you get eina.

Einni is the feminine singular dative form of einn (one).

In this sentence it means one single or just one, and it adds emphasis: she does not trust a single review.

Because umsögn is feminine and because treysta requires the dative, einn has to match:

• feminine
• singular
• dative

So:

• einni umsögn = to one review / a single review

Umsögn usually means review, comment, assessment, or written opinion, depending on context.

In this sentence it most naturally means review.

The form here is:

• umsögn = feminine singular dative (same spelling as nominative singular)

That is one reason Icelandic can be tricky: sometimes the form changes visibly, and sometimes it does not.

A learner mainly needs to know that in this sentence it is dative because of treystir.

Icelandic often leaves out a noun when it is obvious from context, just like English can do.

So:

• hún les alltaf nokkrar
  literally means
• she always reads several [ones]

The missing noun is understood to be umsagnir (reviews).

This is very natural. English does the same:

• She reads several before deciding.

Because this word is agreeing with an implied feminine plural noun: umsagnir.

The verb að lesa (to read) takes a direct object, usually in the accusative. The understood object here is umsagnir, which is:

• feminine
• plural
• accusative

So the matching form is:

• nokkrar = several (feminine plural accusative / nominative)

That is why you get:

• hún les alltaf nokkrar = she always reads several

If the noun were masculine or neuter, the form would be different.

Les is the present tense, 3rd person singular of að lesa (to read).

So:

• ég les
• þú lest
• hann / hún / það les

This is a common verb and its present forms are short. So:

• hún les alltaf nokkrar = she always reads several

Áður en means before in the sense of before something happens / before doing something.

In this sentence:

• áður en hún ákveður sig = before she decides / before she makes up her mind

It introduces a subordinate clause.

Examples:

• Borðaðu áður en þú ferð. = Eat before you go.
• Hann hugsar áður en hann talar. = He thinks before he speaks.

Because að ákveða sig is a common expression meaning to make up one’s mind or to decide in the sense of reaching a personal decision.

Literally, sig is a reflexive pronoun, so the phrase is something like:

• to decide oneself

But in natural English, the best translation is usually:

• to make up one’s mind
• to decide

So:

• hún ákveður sig = she makes up her mind

Because sig is the reflexive pronoun used when the object refers back to the subject of the same clause.

Here the subject is hún (she), and the decision is about herself / her own mind, so Icelandic uses sig.

Compare:

• Hún sér hana. = She sees her.
  This usually means she sees another woman/girl.
• Hún sér sig. = She sees herself.

So in:

• hún ákveður sig

the sig refers back to the same person as hún.

No. Very often it should be translated idiomatically.

Depending on context, að ákveða sig can mean:

• to decide
• to make up one’s mind
• to choose

In this sentence, a natural translation is:

• she always reads several before making up her mind

That sounds more natural in English than the more literal before she decides herself.

The semicolon links two closely related independent clauses:

• Hún treystir ekki einni umsögn
• hún les alltaf nokkrar áður en hún ákveður sig

It shows a strong connection between the two ideas:

• she does not trust just one review;
• therefore she reads several before deciding.

You could also write this with a conjunction, for example:

• Hún treystir ekki einni umsögn og les alltaf nokkrar áður en hún ákveður sig.

But the semicolon gives the sentence a slightly more careful, written style.

It has two main parts:

1. Hún treystir ekki einni umsögn
   = She doesn’t trust a single review

2. hún les alltaf nokkrar áður en hún ákveður sig
   = she always reads several before making up her mind

A helpful grammar breakdown is:

• Hún = subject
• treystir = finite verb
• ekki = negation
• einni umsögn = dative object

Then:

• hún = subject
• les = finite verb
• alltaf = adverb
• nokkrar = object, with umsagnir understood
• áður en hún ákveður sig = subordinate time clause

Yes. Að treysta can mean both trust and rely on, depending on context.

Possible natural translations include:

• She doesn’t trust a single review.
• She doesn’t rely on just one review.
• She doesn’t put her trust in one review alone.

The best English version depends on the tone you want. In everyday English, She doesn’t trust a single review or She doesn’t rely on just one review are both very good.