Skurðarbrettið er blautt, svo hún þurrkar það áður en hún sker tómatana.

Icelandic very often makes compound nouns where English would use two separate words.

skurðarbrettið can be broken down like this:

• skurðar- = of cutting / for cutting
  This comes from skurður (cutting, cut).
• bretti = board
• -ið = the for a neuter noun

So skurðarbrettið literally means the cutting board.

This kind of compound is extremely common in Icelandic.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as a suffix rather than written as a separate word.

So:

• skurðarbretti = a cutting board / cutting board
• skurðarbrettið = the cutting board

That final -ið is the neuter singular definite ending here.

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Icelandic.

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun it describes.

The noun skurðarbrettið is:

• singular
• neuter
• here in the nominative

So the adjective also has to be neuter singular nominative:

• blautur = masculine
• blaut = feminine
• blautt = neuter

Since skurðarbretti is a neuter noun, Icelandic uses blautt.

Here svo means so in the sense of therefore / as a result.

So the sentence structure is:

• Skurðarbrettið er blautt = The cutting board is wet
• svo hún þurrkar það = so she dries it

Depending on context, svo can have other meanings too, but in this sentence it is the everyday connector so.

Because það is the pronoun used for neuter singular nouns.

Since skurðarbretti is neuter, Icelandic refers back to it with það:

• skurðarbrettið = neuter noun
• það = it for a neuter noun

English just uses it for things in general, but Icelandic pronouns follow grammatical gender.

Because Icelandic normally states the subject separately in each clause when needed.

The sentence has more than one clause:

• svo hún þurrkar það
• áður en hún sker tómatana

In the second clause, Icelandic repeats hún (she) rather than leaving it understood. That is normal and natural.

English does this too:

• ...so she dries it before she cuts the tomatoes

You would not normally say before cuts the tomatoes in English, and Icelandic works similarly.

áður en means before.

More literally, it is something like earlier than / before that plus when introducing a clause, but learners should just treat áður en as a fixed expression meaning before when followed by a full clause.

So:

• áður en hún sker tómatana = before she cuts the tomatoes

A useful pattern is:

• áður en + clause

For example:

• áður en ég fer = before I go
• áður en þau borða = before they eat

Icelandic often uses the present tense in contexts where English also can use the present for a sequence, routine, or near-immediate action.

Here the sentence describes a natural sequence:

• the board is wet,
• so she dries it,
• before she cuts the tomatoes.

That is completely normal in Icelandic with present tense forms:

• þurrkar = dries / is drying
• sker = cuts / is cutting

Depending on context, the sentence can sound like a general habit, a step in a process, or something happening now.

Because skera (to cut) is an irregular verb.

Its present tense singular forms are:

• ég sker = I cut
• þú skerð = you cut
• hann/hún/það sker = he/she/it cuts

So hún sker is simply the correct 3rd person singular present form.

This is a verb you will probably want to memorize as a whole set rather than trying to build it by rule.

It can suggest either dries or wipes dry, depending on context.

The verb is þurrka, which often means:

• to dry
• to wipe
• to wipe dry

In this sentence, because the cutting board is wet, hún þurrkar það most naturally means she dries it or she wipes it dry.

So the exact English wording may vary a little, but the Icelandic is straightforward.

Because tómatana is the definite plural accusative form of tómatur (tomato).

Here is the basic idea:

• tómatar = tomatoes (nominative plural)
• tómata = tomatoes (accusative plural, indefinite)
• tómatana = the tomatoes (accusative plural, definite)

It is in the accusative because it is the direct object of sker:

• hún sker tómatana = she cuts the tomatoes

So the ending tells you both:

• it is definite = the
• it is the object of the verb

Because they have different jobs in the sentence.

• Skurðarbrettið is the subject of er blautt, so it is in the nominative
• tómatana is the direct object of sker, so it is in the accusative

Icelandic marks these roles much more clearly than English does through endings.

So even though English has:

• the cutting board
• the tomatoes

Icelandic changes the forms depending on what the noun is doing in the sentence.

Yes, most naturally it is.

The definite forms show that:

• skurðarbrettið = the cutting board
• tómatana = the tomatoes

So the speaker is referring to identifiable things, not just any cutting board or any tomatoes.

If the sentence were indefinite, you would expect forms without the definite endings, such as skurðarbretti or tómata, depending on the grammar of the sentence.