Ég held áfram að læra íslensku, jafnvel þótt málfræðin sé ekki auðveld.

That is just a coincidence between English and Icelandic.

In Icelandic, ég held is the present-tense 1st person singular form of að halda. So ég held áfram means I continue or I keep going.

So in this sentence:

• ég held áfram = I continue
• not a past tense form

This is a very common beginner trap because the spelling looks so familiar to English speakers.

Að halda áfram is a fixed expression meaning to continue, to keep going, or to carry on.

Its parts are:

• halda = to hold, keep, continue in certain expressions
• áfram = onward, on, further

Together, halda áfram functions as a single idea: continue.

So:

• Ég held áfram = I continue
• Ég held áfram að læra = I continue learning / I keep learning

Because Icelandic commonly uses að + infinitive after certain verbs and expressions.

Here, the pattern is:

• halda áfram að + infinitive

So:

• að læra = to learn
• held áfram að læra = continue to learn

This að is the normal infinitive marker, like English to in to learn.

Because íslensku is the accusative form, and it is the direct object of að læra.

In this sentence, the learner is learning Icelandic, so Icelandic is the thing being learned. That makes it the object.

The noun is:

• íslenska = nominative
• íslensku = accusative

So:

• Ég læri íslensku = I learn Icelandic
• not Ég læri íslenska

This is very common with names of languages in Icelandic.

Here it is functioning as a noun, meaning the Icelandic language.

Even though forms like íslenskur / íslensk / íslenskt are adjectives meaning Icelandic, the form íslenska can also be used as a noun meaning Icelandic language.

So in this sentence:

• að læra íslensku = to learn Icelandic

Here íslensku is not describing another noun. It is itself the object.

Because Icelandic normally does not capitalize language names or nationality adjectives the way English does.

So Icelandic writes:

• íslenska
• enska
• danska

not capitalized unless the word starts the sentence.

That is completely normal in Icelandic spelling.

Jafnvel þótt means even though in this sentence.

The parts are:

• þótt = though / although / even if
• jafnvel = even

So jafnvel þótt adds emphasis and gives the sense of even though.

In context:

• jafnvel þótt málfræðin sé ekki auðveld = even though the grammar is not easy

Yes. You often can.

• þótt by itself can mean though, although, or sometimes even if
• jafnvel þótt is stronger and more explicitly gives the sense of even though

So both are possible, but jafnvel adds emphasis.

Roughly:

• þótt = though / although
• jafnvel þótt = even though

Because málfræðin means the grammar, while málfræði means just grammar.

Icelandic usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

So:

• málfræði = grammar
• málfræðin = the grammar

The ending -in is the suffixed definite article here.

Because sé is the present subjunctive form of að vera.

After þótt, Icelandic very often uses the subjunctive, especially in standard written language and in careful speech.

So:

• er = is, indicative
• sé = be / is, subjunctive

In this sentence:

• þótt málfræðin sé ekki auðveld

is a very normal and standard structure.

English learners often notice this because English usually does not mark this kind of difference very clearly.

It signals the kind of meaning introduced by þótt: concession, something like although / even though.

The sentence is saying:

• I continue learning Icelandic
• despite the fact that the grammar is not easy

After conjunctions like þótt, Icelandic often prefers the subjunctive because the clause is presented in a concessive or non-neutral way, not just as a plain standalone statement.

So sé is not random; it matches the grammar of the clause.

Because it agrees with málfræðin, and málfræði is a feminine noun.

Icelandic adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Here:

• málfræðin = feminine singular nominative
• so the adjective is auðveld

Compare:

• masculine: auðveldur
• feminine: auðveld
• neuter: auðvelt

So málfræðin sé ekki auðveld is correct because málfræði is feminine.

Because this is a subordinate clause introduced by jafnvel þótt.

In Icelandic, main clauses often follow the well-known verb-second pattern, but subordinate clauses do not behave the same way.

So after jafnvel þótt, the normal order is:

• conjunction
• subject
• finite verb
• negation / other elements

That gives:

• jafnvel þótt málfræðin sé ekki auðveld

This is standard subordinate-clause word order.

Because in a clause with a finite verb, ekki usually comes after the finite verb.

So:

• sé ekki auðveld = is not easy

This is the normal placement of negation in Icelandic.

A useful beginner rule is:

• finite verb first
• then ekki
• then the rest of the predicate

So sé ekki auðveld is the expected order.

Normally, no, not in this sentence.

After að læra, the language name is the direct object, so it should be in the accusative:

• íslensku

Using íslenska here would sound like the nominative form, which is not what the verb needs.

So the correct sentence is:

• Ég held áfram að læra íslensku

not:

• Ég held áfram að læra íslenska