Hún tók bókina þaðan og setti hana á borðið.

Because Icelandic changes pronouns for case.

• hún = she as the subject of the sentence
• hana = her as the object

In this sentence:

• Hún tók bókina... = She took the book...
• ...og setti hana á borðið. = ...and put it on the table.

Here hana refers to bókina. Since bók is a feminine noun, the pronoun that refers back to it is also feminine: hana.

So even though English uses it for the book, Icelandic uses a pronoun that matches the noun’s grammatical gender.

In Icelandic, the definite article the is usually attached to the end of the noun.

So:

• bók = book
• bókin = the book in nominative
• bókina = the book in accusative

This is very common in Icelandic. Instead of a separate word like English the, Icelandic often uses a suffix article.

In this sentence, bókina is the direct object of tók, so it appears in the accusative form.

Because taka normally takes a direct object, and direct objects are often in the accusative case.

The noun bók is feminine, and its definite singular forms include:

• bókin = nominative singular definite
• bókina = accusative singular definite

Since she took the book, the book is the thing being acted on, so Icelandic uses the accusative: bókina.

þaðan is an adverb meaning from there.

It already includes the idea of from, so Icelandic does not need a separate word here.

Compare:

• þar = there
• þangað = to there / there, in the sense of motion toward
• þaðan = from there

So Hún tók bókina þaðan literally means She took the book from there.

It can say og hún setti, but Icelandic often leaves out the repeated subject when it is clearly the same person.

So both are possible:

• Hún tók bókina þaðan og setti hana á borðið.
• Hún tók bókina þaðan og hún setti hana á borðið.

The version without the second hún sounds more natural and less repetitive, just like English often prefers:

• She took the book from there and put it on the table

instead of repeating she.

setti is the past tense of setja, meaning to set, put, place.

So:

• setja = to put
• setti = put / placed

In this sentence, it matches the past tense of tók:

• tók = took
• setti = put

Together they describe two completed actions in the past.

Because taka is an irregular verb.

Its basic forms are:

• taka = to take
• tekur = takes
• tók = took
• tekið = taken

So tók is simply the normal past tense form you have to learn as part of the verb’s principal forms.

Many common Icelandic verbs are irregular, especially everyday ones like taka.

Because Icelandic pronouns often follow the grammatical gender of the noun, not just natural gender.

The noun bók is feminine, so when you refer back to it, you use a feminine pronoun:

• bókin / bókina → hún / hana

So Icelandic may use a form that literally looks like her, even when English uses it.

This is normal for things in Icelandic:

• a feminine noun can be referred to with feminine pronouns
• a masculine noun with masculine pronouns
• a neuter noun with neuter pronouns

Because á changes case depending on whether there is movement or location.

A very useful rule is:

• á + accusative = movement onto something
• á + dative = location on something

Here the book is being moved onto the table, so Icelandic uses the accusative:

• á borðið = onto the table

But if the book were already there, you would use the dative:

• Bókin er á borðinu. = The book is on the table.

So the sentence uses á borðið because of the action of putting.

Because borð is a neuter noun, and -ið is the suffixed definite article in this form.

So:

• borð = table
• borðið = the table

In this sentence, borðið is accusative singular definite after á with movement. For this particular noun, the nominative and accusative singular definite forms look the same:

• nominative: borðið
• accusative: borðið

That is very common with neuter nouns.

The sentence follows a very straightforward pattern:

• Hún = subject
• tók = verb
• bókina = object
• þaðan = adverb
• og setti = and put
• hana = object
• á borðið = prepositional phrase

So the structure is roughly:

Subject + Verb + Object + Adverb + and + Verb + Object + Prepositional Phrase

Nothing especially unusual is happening here. It is a good example of normal Icelandic main-clause word order.

It is an adverb.

In English, we often need two words:

• from there

But Icelandic often expresses that idea with one adverb:

• þaðan

So although its meaning includes from, grammatically it behaves as a single adverbial word.

Sometimes yes, but the nuance changes.

• setja is a general verb meaning put, place, set
• leggja often suggests laying something down, especially in a horizontal position

So:

• setti hana á borðið = put it on the table
• lagði hana á borðið = laid it on the table

In many situations both could work, but setti is broader and more neutral.

Not in the same way as in some languages.

In Icelandic past tense, verbs do not change form according to gender of the subject. They do, however, change by person and number.

Here the subject is third person singular, so the past tense forms are:

• hún tók
• hún setti

If the subject were plural, the forms would change accordingly.

So the important agreement here is with person/number, not with feminine gender.

Here are the main dictionary forms:

• hún → pronoun meaning she
• taka → to take
• bók → book
• þaðan → from there
• setja → to put / place
• á → on, onto
• borð → table

The sentence uses inflected forms of several of these:

• tók from taka
• bókina from bók
• setti from setja
• hana referring back to bók
• borðið from borð