Ég hef verið að reyna að klára þetta allt í dag, en nú ætla ég bara að hvíla mig.

This is a very common Icelandic way to express an ongoing action up to the present.

• ég = I
• hef = have
• verið = been
• að reyna = trying / to try

So ég hef verið að reyna is literally something like I have been at trying, but in natural English it is I have been trying.

The pattern is:

hafa + verið + að + infinitive

This often corresponds to the English present perfect continuous:

• Ég hef verið að lesa. = I have been reading.
• Ég hef verið að vinna. = I have been working.

Vera að + infinitive often expresses that something is in progress, ongoing, or currently happening.

For example:

• Ég er að lesa. = I am reading.
• Hann var að elda. = He was cooking.

In your sentence, it appears inside a perfect construction:

• hef verið að reyna

That gives the sense of an activity that has been going on for some time: have been trying.

English speakers often compare it to the progressive be + -ing, but Icelandic does not use it exactly the same way in every context. Still, in sentences like this, it is a very good match.

Because they belong to two different parts of the sentence.

1. The first að is part of the progressive-like construction:

   • vera að reyna = be trying

2. The second að belongs with the verb reyna:

   • reyna að gera eitthvað = try to do something

So:

• vera að reyna að klára = be trying to finish

This is completely normal in Icelandic.

Compare:

• Ég er að reyna að sofa. = I am trying to sleep.
• Við vorum að reyna að hjálpa. = We were trying to help.

Yes, klára is very common and natural in everyday Icelandic. It means finish, complete, or get done.

In this sentence:

• að klára þetta allt = to finish all this / to get all of this done

It is often used in speech and informal writing. You will hear it a lot.

A more formal or literary alternative can sometimes be ljúka, but klára is extremely common in daily language.

Examples:

• Ég þarf að klára verkefnið. = I need to finish the project.
• Við kláruðum þetta í gær. = We finished this yesterday.

Both can exist in Icelandic, but they do not always feel exactly the same.

In að klára þetta allt, the speaker is referring to all of this—the whole set of things they have in front of them or have been dealing with.

• þetta allt = all this / all of this

This order is very common when þetta points to a specific set of things already understood from context.

Roughly:

• þetta allt = all this stuff here / all of this
• allt þetta can also mean all this, but may sometimes feel more emphatic or slightly different in rhythm/focus depending on context

For a learner, the important thing is that þetta allt is completely natural here.

Because þetta is the neuter singular form of this, and allt agrees with it.

• þessi = this
• þetta = this, neuter singular
• allt = all, neuter singular

Even though the meaning may feel broad in English, Icelandic often uses neuter singular for something like all this stuff or all of this.

So:

• þetta allt literally has matching neuter singular forms

This is very typical when talking about a general mass of tasks, work, or things.

Because í dag is the normal Icelandic expression for today.

• í = in
• dag = day

So it is literally in day, but idiomatically it means today.

Examples:

• Ég vinn í dag. = I am working today.
• Hún kemur í dag. = She is coming today.

In your sentence, allt í dag means that the effort to finish everything has been happening today.

This is because Icelandic is a verb-second language in main clauses.

That means the finite verb usually comes in the second position. If something other than the subject comes first, the verb still stays second, and the subject comes after it.

So:

• Nú ætla ég... = Now I intend / am going to...
• first element: nú
• second element: ætla
• then the subject: ég

This is very standard Icelandic word order.

Compare:

• Ég ætla að fara. = I am going to go.
• Nú ætla ég að fara. = Now I am going to go.

English does not do this in the same way, so this is something learners often need time to get used to.

Ætla often means intend, plan, or be going to, depending on context.

Here:

• nú ætla ég bara að hvíla mig = now I’m just going to rest

A very literal version might be:

• now I intend just to rest

But in natural English, I’m just going to rest sounds better.

So yes, ætla can mean intend, but very often in ordinary speech it works like be going to.

Examples:

• Ég ætla að fara heim. = I’m going to go home.
• Hvað ætlarðu að gera? = What are you going to do?

Bara usually means just, only, or sometimes simply.

In this sentence:

• nú ætla ég bara að hvíla mig = now I’m just going to rest

It softens the statement and gives the feeling:

• that is all I’m going to do now
• I’m not going to keep pushing
• I’m simply going to rest

It is a very common little word in Icelandic and appears constantly in everyday speech.

Examples:

• Ég vil bara kaffi. = I just want coffee.
• Hann er bara þreyttur. = He’s just tired.

Because hvíla sig means to rest oneself, and Icelandic usually expresses this with a reflexive pronoun.

So:

• ég hvíli mig = I rest / I rest myself
• að hvíla mig = to rest

The pronoun changes with the person:

• ég hvíli mig = I rest
• þú hvílir þig = you rest
• hann/hún hvílir sig = he/she rests

In your sentence, mig is the correct reflexive form for ég.

This is very important, because hvíla without a reflexive object can mean something more like rest something or lay something down to rest, depending on context.

Mig is the accusative form of ég.

The forms are:

• nominative: ég = I
• accusative: mig = me
• dative: mér = me
• genitive: mín = my/of me

The verb phrase hvíla sig takes an accusative reflexive pronoun, so for ég you get mig.

That is why the sentence says:

• að hvíla mig not
• að hvíla mér

Not with exactly the same meaning.

• Ég hef verið að reyna emphasizes the ongoing effort: I have been trying
• Ég er búinn að... usually means I have finished / I’m done with...

So:

• Ég er búinn að reyna would mean something more like I have tried or I’m done trying, depending on context
• Ég hef verið að reyna means the trying has been continuing up to now

Since the sentence is about spending the day making an effort and now deciding to rest, hef verið að reyna is the better fit.

En means but, and it joins two clauses:

• Ég hef verið að reyna að klára þetta allt í dag
• en nú ætla ég bara að hvíla mig

So the sentence is:

• I have been trying to finish all this today, but now I’m just going to rest.

The comma is normal here because two full clauses are being connected. In Icelandic punctuation, this is very natural and standard.

Yes, absolutely. That is a very natural English rendering.

The Icelandic part:

• að klára þetta allt í dag

can be translated in more than one good way, depending on what sounds most natural in English:

• to finish all this today
• to get all this done today
• to finish everything today

So if the learner already knows the basic meaning, it is useful to know that Icelandic often allows several equally good English translations.