Ég finn ekki ilmvatnið mitt í töskunni.

Ég means I, and finn is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb að finna.

So:

• að finna = to find
• ég finn = I find / I am finding

Icelandic does not usually need a separate form like English am finding here. The simple present finn can cover that idea depending on context.

Ekki means not.

In a basic Icelandic sentence, ekki usually comes after the finite verb:

• Ég finn ekki ... = I do not find ...

That word order is very common in Icelandic. English uses do not find, but Icelandic does not need an extra do.

Ilmvatn means perfume as an indefinite noun, while ilmvatnið means the perfume.

The ending -ið is the definite article attached to the noun itself. Icelandic usually adds the as a suffix rather than using a separate word.

So:

• ilmvatn = perfume
• ilmvatnið = the perfume

That is why you see ilmvatnið mitt for my perfume.

Because mitt has to agree with ilmvatnið.

The noun ilmvatn is:

• neuter
• singular
• here in the accusative

The possessive minn changes form to match the noun:

• masculine: minn
• feminine: mín
• neuter: mitt

So:

• bíllinn minn = my car (masculine)
• taskan mín = my bag (feminine)
• ilmvatnið mitt = my perfume (neuter)

In Icelandic, possessives like minn, mín, mitt often come after the noun, especially when the noun is definite.

So ilmvatnið mitt is the normal way to say my perfume.

This pattern is very common:

• húsið mitt = my house
• bókin mín = my book
• vinur minn = my friend

English puts my before the noun, but Icelandic often puts this type of possessive after it.

Because í can take different cases depending on meaning.

With location (in, inside somewhere), í takes the dative. With movement into somewhere, í takes the accusative.

Here, the sentence means the perfume is located in the bag, so Icelandic uses the dative:

• í töskunni = in the bag

The noun taska is feminine. Its forms here are:

• taska = a bag (nominative)
• töskuna = the bag (accusative)
• töskunni = the bag (dative)

So í töskunni is correct because this is a location phrase.

This happens because Icelandic nouns change form by case, and sometimes the vowel changes too.

The basic noun is:

• taska = bag

But in other cases it changes:

• tösku
• töskunni
• töskuna

This kind of vowel change is normal in Icelandic declension. It is something learners usually just have to get used to by learning noun forms together.

A useful habit is to learn nouns with gender and key forms, not just the dictionary form.

Yes. Að finna can mean different things depending on context, especially:

• to find
• to feel / to sense

For example:

• Ég finn lykt. = I smell an odor / I sense a smell.
• Ég finn ekki lyklana. = I can’t find the keys.

In your sentence, because the object is the perfume and the phrase in the bag follows, the meaning is clearly find, not feel.

Yes, it is a very natural neutral word order.

A simple breakdown is:

• Ég = subject
• finn = verb
• ekki = negation
• ilmvatnið mitt = object
• í töskunni = prepositional phrase

So the sentence follows a common Icelandic pattern: Subject + Verb + ekki + Object + Place phrase

Other word orders are possible for emphasis, but this version is the normal straightforward one.

That sounds less natural in a neutral sentence.

In ordinary Icelandic, ekki usually comes right after the finite verb:

• Ég finn ekki ilmvatnið mitt í töskunni.

Moving ekki later can happen in some contexts, but it often sounds marked, contrastive, or unnatural to learners if used randomly. So the safest choice is to keep ekki after finn.

Because Icelandic usually expresses the by attaching it to the end of the noun.

So instead of:

• separate word + noun

Icelandic often has:

• noun + definite ending

Examples:

• hús = house

• húsið = the house

• taska = bag

• taskan = the bag

• ilmvatn = perfume
• ilmvatnið = the perfume

That is one of the biggest structural differences from English.

The basic sentence could stay the same, but if you wanted to contrast locations, Icelandic might emphasize that in different ways.

For example:

• Ég finn ekki ilmvatnið mitt í töskunni, heldur annars staðar.
  I can’t find my perfume in the bag, but somewhere else.

Or if the idea is movement/location contrast, the case after prepositions would become important. In your original sentence, í töskunni is definitely location: the perfume is supposed to be in the bag.

This sentence is a great example of several important Icelandic patterns:

1. Verb conjugation

   • að finna → ég finn

2. Negation

   • ekki usually comes after the finite verb

3. Definite nouns

   • ilmvatnið = the perfume

4. Possessive agreement

   • mitt agrees with neuter singular ilmvatnið

5. Prepositions and case

   • í
     • dative for location
   • therefore í töskunni

6. Possessive position

   • ilmvatnið mitt rather than English-style my perfume

If you understand those six things, you understand a lot of the grammar inside this one sentence.