Ég spegla mig í speglinum áður en ég fer í vinnu.

Because ég is the subject form, but mig is the object form.

In Ég spegla mig, the subject is ég = I, and the object is mig = me/myself.

This verb is commonly used reflexively:

• að spegla sig = to look at oneself in the mirror

So the sentence literally works like:

• Ég = I
• spegla = mirror / look at
• mig = myself

Compare:

• Ég spegla mig = I look at myself in the mirror
• Þú speglar þig = You look at yourself in the mirror
• Hann speglar sig = He looks at himself in the mirror

Yes, very often it is.

The basic verb spegla can mean to mirror or to reflect, but in everyday use spegla sig is a common reflexive expression meaning to look at oneself in a mirror.

So in this sentence, spegla mig is not just a random combination of verb + pronoun. It is part of the pattern:

• að spegla sig

The pronoun changes with the person:

• mig
• þig
• sig
• okkur
• ykkur
• sig

Because í can take different cases depending on meaning.

With í:

• accusative often shows motion into
• dative often shows location in

Here, the idea is not that someone is moving into the mirror. It is a static location relationship: the person is looking at themselves in the mirror. So Icelandic uses the dative.

That is why you get:

• í spegli = in a mirror
• í speglinum = in the mirror

It is part of the definite article and the case ending.

Icelandic usually puts the onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word in front.

So:

• spegill = mirror
• spegillinn = the mirror, nominative
• spegli = in a mirror, dative
• speglinum = in the mirror, dative

So speglinum means the mirror in the form required after í here.

Because Icelandic normally attaches the definite article to the noun itself.

English says:

• the mirror

Icelandic usually says:

• speglinum or another definite noun form, depending on case

So instead of a separate article before the noun, the noun changes form.

That is one of the big differences from English.

Áður en means before and introduces a clause.

So:

• áður en ég fer í vinnu = before I go to work

You can think of it as linking two actions:

1. Ég spegla mig í speglinum
2. ég fer í vinnu

The first action happens before the second one.

A useful pattern is:

• áður en + clause

For example:

• áður en ég borða = before I eat
• áður en hún kemur = before she comes

Because there are two clauses, and each clause has its own subject.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• Ég spegla mig í speglinum
• áður en ég fer í vinnu

Both clauses have I as the subject, so Icelandic says ég in both places, just as English says I in both parts of I look at myself in the mirror before I go to work.

Fer is the present tense of að fara, which means to go.

Some key forms are:

• að fara = to go
• ég fer = I go
• þú ferð = you go
• hann/hún fer = he/she goes

So:

• ég fer í vinnu = I go to work

This is an irregular verb, so the present tense does not look much like the infinitive.

The dictionary form is að spegla.

When you remove að, the first-person singular present is also spegla:

• að spegla = to look at oneself in the mirror / to mirror
• ég spegla = I look at myself in the mirror / I mirror

This is very common with Icelandic weak verbs. So even though spegla looks like the infinitive, in the sentence it is the finite verb form I mirror / I look at myself.

Compare:

• ég spegla
• þú speglar
• hann speglar

Because í vinnu is a very common idiomatic expression meaning to work or to work/the workplace in a general sense.

It works a bit like English go to work, where English also usually leaves out the.

So:

• fara í vinnu = go to work

This is more general and idiomatic than talking about one specific physical workplace as a particular object.

Because í here expresses movement toward a destination, so it takes the accusative.

The noun is:

• vinna = work, nominative
• vinnu = work, accusative

Since ég fer í vinnu means I go to work, there is movement involved, so Icelandic uses the accusative form vinnu.

This gives a nice contrast with the earlier phrase:

• í speglinum = location, so dative
• í vinnu = motion toward, so accusative

Yes.

You can say:

• Áður en ég fer í vinnu, spegla ég mig í speglinum.

That still means the same thing.

But notice the word order in the main clause:

• spegla ég
• not ég spegla

That happens because Icelandic is a verb-second language in main clauses. When another element comes first, the finite verb usually comes next.

So:

• Ég spegla mig í speglinum áður en ég fer í vinnu.
• Áður en ég fer í vinnu, spegla ég mig í speglinum.

Both are correct.