Ég tala við póstmanninn í smástund og spyr hvenær sendingin komi.

In Icelandic, tala við einhvern means to speak to / talk with someone. The preposition við is the normal one used with tala when another person is the listener or conversation partner.

It is not a word-for-word match with English prepositions. Even though við often has other meanings in other contexts, after tala you should learn it as part of the pattern:

tala við + accusative

So:

• Ég tala við póstmanninn = I speak to the postman

Because við takes the accusative case, and póstmanninn is the accusative singular definite form of póstmaður.

The noun changes like this:

• póstmaður = a postman, the postman as dictionary form / nominative singular
• póstmann = postman in the accusative singular
• póstmanninn = the postman in the accusative singular

So:

• póstmaðurinn = the postman as subject
• við póstmanninn = to/with the postman after við

This is also a good example of how maður nouns often change their stem in oblique cases: maður → mann-

Í smástund means for a short while, for a little while, or briefly.

It is basically a time expression. Icelandic often uses í with certain expressions of duration, where English would usually use for.

So even though í often means in, here the whole phrase works idiomatically as:

• í smástund = for a short while

You should learn it as a chunk.

Spyrja is the infinitive, meaning to ask.
Spyr is the present tense, first person singular form, meaning I ask.

So:

• að spyrja = to ask
• ég spyr = I ask

This is just normal verb conjugation. Icelandic verbs usually change form depending on tense and person.

Because sendingin is the subject of the subordinate clause hvenær sendingin komi.

The base noun is:

• sending = shipment, delivery, consignment

With the suffixed definite article, it becomes:

• sendingin = the shipment

Since it is the subject of komi, it appears in the nominative singular.

So the structure is roughly:

• hvenær = when
• sendingin = the shipment
• komi = may come / will arrive

Komi is the present subjunctive form of koma, while kemur is the present indicative.

In indirect questions after verbs like spyrja, Icelandic very often uses the subjunctive, especially when the speaker is referring to something uncertain, not yet known, or not being stated as a plain fact.

So:

• Ég spyr hvenær sendingin komi = I ask when the shipment will arrive

The idea is not the shipment arrives as a direct statement, but I ask when it is supposed to arrive / when it may arrive.

Even though it is formally a present form, it refers to the future here.

That is very normal in Icelandic. The present tense is often used for future meaning when the context makes it clear.

So:

• hvenær sendingin komi means when the shipment will arrive

There is no separate mandatory word like English will in this sentence. The future meaning comes from the context.

Because this is an embedded / subordinate question, not a direct question.

In a direct question, Icelandic often has verb-second style word order, for example:

• Hvenær kemur sendingin? = When does the shipment arrive?

But after a verb like spyr, the question becomes embedded, and the word order changes:

• Ég spyr hvenær sendingin komi = I ask when the shipment will arrive

So in the embedded clause, it is normal to have:

question word + subject + verb

That is why you see hvenær sendingin komi.

Because the same subject continues across both verbs.

Icelandic, like English, often leaves out the subject when two verbs share the same subject and are joined by og:

• Ég tala við póstmanninn í smástund og spyr...

This is the same idea as English:

• I talk to the postman for a short while and ask...

You do not need to say Ég tala ... og ég spyr ..., although you could repeat ég for emphasis or clarity.

Yes. Icelandic often uses koma in the sense of come / arrive, including for things like letters, parcels, deliveries, and shipments.

So sendingin komi naturally means that the shipment comes, that is, arrives.

This is very similar to English expressions like:

• When does the package come?
• When will the shipment arrive?

In natural English we often prefer arrive, but Icelandic commonly uses koma in this kind of context.