Ég skil þig ekki þegar þú talar svona hratt.

Skil is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb skilja, which means to understand.

So:

• ég skil = I understand
• þú skilur = you understand
• hann/hún/það skilur = he/she/it understands

The verb changes depending on the subject, so with ég you say skil, not skilur.

Because þig is the object form of þú.

• þú = you as the subject
• þig = you as the object

In this sentence, the speaker is doing the understanding, and you are the person being understood, so Icelandic uses the object form:

• Ég skil þig ekki = I don’t understand you

This is similar to English I see him, not I see he.

Ekki means not, and its position can feel a little different from English.

In a simple sentence like this, Icelandic often places ekki after the verb phrase or after an object pronoun:

• Ég skil þig ekki = I understand you not → natural Icelandic for I don’t understand you

English uses do not understand, but Icelandic does not need a helping verb like do.

So the negative is made simply by adding ekki.

Here, þegar means when.

It introduces a time clause:

• þegar þú talar svona hratt = when you speak so fast

A useful thing to know is that þegar can also mean already in other contexts, but not here.

For example:

• Ég er þegar búinn = I am already finished

So the meaning depends on how it is used in the sentence.

Because the sentence has two clauses:

1. Ég skil þig ekki = I don’t understand you
2. þegar þú talar svona hratt = when you speak so fast

The second clause needs its own subject, and that subject is þú.

So Icelandic, like English, repeats you here:

• when you speak so fast

Svona is a very common word meaning something like:

• like this
• this way
• so
• in this manner

In this sentence, svona hratt means so fast or this fast.

So:

• þú talar svona hratt = you speak so fast

It often adds a sense of in this way / to this degree.

Because hratt is being used as an adverb, not an adjective.

• hraður = fast as an adjective, describing a noun
• hratt = fast/quickly as an adverb, describing how someone speaks

Compare:

• Hann er hraður. = He is fast.
• Hann hleypur hratt. = He runs fast / quickly.

In Icelandic, adverbs are often the same as the neuter singular form of the adjective, which is why hraður becomes hratt.

Talar comes from the verb tala, which means to speak or to talk.

Here it is the 2nd person singular present tense:

• ég tala = I speak
• þú talar = you speak
• við tölum = we speak

So:

• þú talar = you speak

Yes, but it is very normal Icelandic word order.

The main clause is:

• Ég skil þig ekki

That is:

• subject: ég
• verb: skil
• object: þig
• negation: ekki

Then comes the subordinate clause:

• þegar þú talar svona hratt

After þegar, the subject þú comes before the verb talar.

So the whole sentence is built very naturally as:

• I don’t understand you
• when you speak so fast

A learner may notice that Icelandic often has strict rules about where the verb goes, but this sentence follows a very common and straightforward pattern.

The letter þ is pronounced like the th in think, not like the th in this.

So:

• þú sounds roughly like thoo
• þig starts with that same th sound

This letter is called thorn and is very common in Icelandic.

A quick tip:

• þ = unvoiced th as in think
• ð = voiced th as in this (though Icelandic pronunciation has its own details)

The main difference is that Icelandic does not use a helping verb like do to make negatives.

English:

• I do not understand you
• I don’t understand you

Icelandic:

• Ég skil þig ekki

So Icelandic is structurally closer to I understand you not, even though that is not natural modern English.

This is a very important pattern to get used to in Icelandic.

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• þegar þú talar svona hratt = when you speak this fast
• ef þú talar svona hratt = if you speak this fast

Þegar refers to a time or situation that happens. Ef makes it sound more conditional.

So the original sentence is more natural if the idea is I don’t understand you whenever you speak so fast.

In this sentence, the most natural translation is so fast.

But literally, svona has the sense of like this / in this way. So you can think of:

• svona hratt = at this speed / this fast / so fast

That is why svona is such a flexible word. Its exact English translation depends on context.

Yes, absolutely. It sounds natural and useful in everyday Icelandic.

It is the kind of sentence you might say if someone is speaking too quickly for you:

• Ég skil þig ekki þegar þú talar svona hratt.

A slightly simpler version would be:

• Ég skil þig ekki. = I don’t understand you.
• Talaðu hægar. = Speak more slowly.

So the full sentence is natural, polite, and very practical for learners.