Þó að hún hafi litla matarlyst, borðar hún samt smá pasta og drekkur vatn.

Þó að means although, even though, or though.

It introduces a subordinate clause:

• Þó að hún hafi litla matarlyst = Although she has little appetite

In Icelandic, þó and að often work together as a fixed expression in this kind of sentence.

Because Þó að commonly triggers the subjunctive mood in Icelandic.

So:

• hún hefur = she has (indicative)
• hún hafi = she have / has in a subjunctive environment

After conjunctions like þó að, Icelandic often uses the subjunctive, especially in more careful or standard language.

So:

• Þó að hún hafi... = Although she has...

This is one of the most important things to notice in the sentence.

The basic infinitive is að hafa = to have.

In this sentence, hafi is the present subjunctive, 3rd person singular:

• ég hafi
• þú hafir
• hann / hún / það hafi

So hún hafi means she has in the subjunctive.

Because hafa takes a direct object, and the direct object here is in the accusative case.

The noun is:

• matarlyst = appetite
• feminine singular

Its adjective must match it in case, gender, and number.

So:

• nominative: lítil matarlyst = a small/little appetite
• accusative: litla matarlyst

Since the sentence says hafa litla matarlyst (to have little appetite), the accusative is required.

Matarlyst means appetite, especially appetite for food.

It is a compound noun:

• matur = food
• lyst = desire, liking, appetite

So literally it is something like food-desire, but the natural English meaning is appetite.

This is because Icelandic is a verb-second (V2) language in main clauses.

The first element of the main clause here is the whole subordinate clause:

• Þó að hún hafi litla matarlyst

After that comes the main clause, and in Icelandic the finite verb usually comes in second position:

• borðar = finite verb
• hún = subject

So the structure is:

• [Subordinate clause], borðar hún samt smá pasta...

If you started a simple sentence with the subject, you would get:

• Hún borðar samt smá pasta.

But once something else comes first, the verb typically moves before the subject in the main clause.

Samt here means still, nevertheless, or all the same.

So:

• borðar hún samt smá pasta = she still eats a little pasta

It emphasizes the contrast:

• she has little appetite
• but still she eats something

Here smá means a little, some, or a small amount of.

In many everyday contexts, smá is used as an indeclinable quantifier, so it often stays the same instead of changing for case, gender, or number.

So:

• smá pasta = a little pasta / some pasta

This is very common in modern Icelandic.

Pasta is often treated as a loanword, and in everyday use it may appear without much visible case change, especially after a word like smá.

Here:

• smá pasta = a little pasta

Also, because this is an indefinite amount, Icelandic does not need an article here. English also says some pasta, not usually a pasta.

Because the same subject applies to both verbs.

The sentence has two coordinated verbs:

• borðar ... og drekkur ...
• eats ... and drinks ...

Since both actions are done by hún (she), Icelandic does not need to repeat the subject:

• borðar hún samt smá pasta og drekkur vatn

English works the same way:

• she eats a little pasta and drinks water

Because Icelandic often leaves nouns indefinite when speaking generally or when the exact item is not being specified.

So:

• drekkur vatn = drinks water

This is similar to English, where we normally say drink water, not drink a water.

It is the accusative, because it is the direct object of drekkur (drinks).

The noun is:

• vatn = water
• neuter

For many neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative singular look the same, so you do not see a different ending here.

The comma separates the subordinate clause from the main clause:

• Þó að hún hafi litla matarlyst,
• borðar hún samt smá pasta og drekkur vatn.

This is standard and helps show the sentence structure clearly.

Very often, yes, especially in standard written Icelandic.

So learners should strongly expect:

• Þó að ... hafi
• not usually Þó að ... hefur

In real-life usage, you may sometimes hear variation, but for learning and correct formal usage, subjunctive after Þó að is the safe rule.

A helpful breakdown is:

• Þó að = although
• hún = she
• hafi = has (subjunctive of að hafa)
• litla = little/small (accusative feminine singular)
• matarlyst = appetite
• borðar = eats
• hún = she
• samt = still / nevertheless
• smá = a little / some
• pasta = pasta
• og = and
• drekkur = drinks
• vatn = water

So the structure is very close to:

• Although she has little appetite, eats she still some pasta and drinks water

That word-for-word version is not natural English, but it helps show the Icelandic grammar.