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

to be

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

• það: it
• hún: she
• áður en: before

Questions & Answers about Skurðarbrettið er blautt, svo hún þurrkar það áður en hún sker tómatana.

Why is skurðarbrettið one long word, and how is it built?

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.

Why does the appear at the end in skurðarbrettið instead of as a separate word?

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.

Why is it blautt and not something like blautur or blaut?