Fatan er full af vatni, svo berðu hana varlega út á svalirnar.

Because fatan means the bucket, while fata means a bucket or just bucket.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.

• fata = bucket
• fatan = the bucket

So Fatan er full af vatni means The bucket is full of water.

Fata is a feminine noun, and yes, that matters.

In Icelandic, adjectives and pronouns must agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case. That is why you get:

• full because fatan is feminine singular nominative
• hana because the pronoun referring back to fatan is feminine singular accusative

So the noun’s gender affects several other words in the sentence.

Because the adjective has to agree with fatan.

The adjective fullur means full, but it changes form depending on gender:

• masculine: fullur
• feminine: full
• neuter: fullt

Since fatan is feminine singular, the correct form is full:

• Fatan er full af vatni

Because the preposition af takes the dative case.

The noun is:

• nominative/accusative: vatn
• dative: vatni

So after af, you must say af vatni.

This is also the normal pattern with fullur af:

• fullur af einhverju = full of something

So full af vatni literally follows the Icelandic grammar very naturally.

Yes, in this sentence af corresponds to English of in the expression full of.

But more broadly, af has several meanings in Icelandic depending on context, such as from, off, or of. Here it is part of the fixed pattern:

• vera fullur af einhverju = to be full of something

So it is best to learn fullur af + dative as a set phrase.

Here svo means something like so, therefore, or then.

It connects the first clause to the command in the second clause:

• Fatan er full af vatni, svo berðu hana...
• The bucket is full of water, so carry it...

It shows consequence: because the bucket is full of water, you should carry it carefully.

Berðu is the singular imperative of bera, meaning carry!

So:

• bera = to carry
• berðu = carry! (said to one person)

The ending -ðu is very common in Icelandic singular commands:

• komdu = come!
• farðu = go!
• berðu = carry!

So the second clause is a direct instruction.

Because Icelandic imperatives often do not need an explicit subject, just like English:

• Carry it carefully
• Berðu hana varlega

The you is understood from the imperative form itself. The ending -ðu already signals that the command is addressed to one person.

You can add þú for emphasis in some contexts, but normally it is not needed.

Here hana means it, referring to fatan.

This can feel strange to English speakers because English usually uses it for objects. But Icelandic pronouns follow grammatical gender, not natural gender.

Since fata is feminine, the pronoun referring to it is feminine too:

• hana = her / it, feminine accusative singular

So in this sentence, hana does not mean a female person. It means the bucket.

Because it is the direct object of berðu.

The verb bera takes a thing that is being carried, and that thing is in the accusative:

• berðu hana = carry it

So:

• fatan is nominative in the first clause because it is the subject
• hana is accusative in the second clause because it is the object

Varlega is an adverb, meaning carefully.

It describes how you should carry the bucket.

Compare:

• varlegur = careful, cautious
• varlega = carefully

Unlike adjectives, adverbs do not agree with the noun in gender or case here. So varlega stays the same.

Because that is the natural word order in this kind of Icelandic sentence.

In commands, short object pronouns like hana often come close to the verb:

• berðu hana varlega

This is more natural than placing hana later. English learners often want to focus on the adverb first, but Icelandic commonly puts the object pronoun right after the verb in sentences like this.

Because the two words contribute different parts of the meaning:

• út = out
• á svalirnar = onto the balcony

Together, út á svalirnar means out onto the balcony.

So út gives the outward direction, and á introduces the destination.

Yes. Svalir is one of those Icelandic nouns that is usually used in the plural, even when English would often say balcony in the singular.

So:

• svalir = balcony / balconies, indefinite
• svalirnar = the balcony / the balconies, definite

In practice, á svalirnar often corresponds to English onto the balcony.

Because Icelandic uses different cases after á depending on whether there is motion or location.

• accusative after á = motion onto/to
• dative after á = location on/in

Here there is movement:

• berðu hana út á svalirnar = carry it out onto the balcony

If you were talking about being on the balcony already, you would use dative:

• á svölunum = on the balcony

So this is a very important Icelandic pattern:

• motion: á svalirnar
• location: á svölunum

It is both:

1. Fatan er full af vatni = a statement
2. svo berðu hana varlega út á svalirnar = a command

This is very normal in Icelandic. The first clause gives the situation, and the second tells someone what to do about it.

So the structure is roughly:

• statement of condition
• followed by instruction

Depending on context, fata can be translated as bucket, pail, or sometimes tub. The exact English word depends on what kind of container is meant.

In this sentence, because it is full of water and being carried outside carefully, bucket is probably the most natural translation.