Þegar pelinn er tómur, legg ég hann í vaskinn.

When the baby bottle is empty, I put it in the sink.

Breakdown of Þegar pelinn er tómur, legg ég hann í vaskinn.

• ég: I
• vera: to be
• í: in
• þegar: when

Questions & Answers about Þegar pelinn er tómur, legg ég hann í vaskinn.

What does Þegar do in this sentence?

Þegar means when here. It introduces a subordinate time clause:

Þegar pelinn er tómur = When the bottle is empty

That clause sets the time or condition for the main clause:

legg ég hann í vaskinn = I put it in the sink

So the whole sentence has the structure:

When X happens, I do Y.

Does peli mean any kind of bottle?

Not usually. Peli most often means a feeding bottle / baby bottle rather than just any bottle in general.

So if you see pelinn, the image is often more like a baby’s bottle than, say, a soda bottle or wine bottle.

A more general word for bottle is often flaska.

Why is it pelinn and not peli?