Ég set skyrtuna á straubrettið og hita straujárnið.

Because skyrtuna is the accusative singular definite form of skyrta.

• skyrta = a shirt
• skyrtan = the shirt
• skyrtuna = the shirt, when it is a direct object

Here, the shirt is the thing being put somewhere, so Icelandic uses the accusative.

That -ið is the definite article attached to a neuter singular noun.

• straubretti = ironing board
• straubrettið = the ironing board
• straujárn = iron
• straujárnið = the iron

In Icelandic, the word for the is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of written as a separate word.

Because á can take different cases depending on meaning.

• á + accusative = motion toward / onto something
• á + dative = location on something

So:

• Ég set skyrtuna á straubrettið = I put the shirt onto the ironing board
• Skyrtan er á straubrettinu = The shirt is on the ironing board

That is a very common Icelandic pattern.

set is the 1st person singular present tense of setja.

• að setja = to put, set, place
• ég set = I put / I am putting

So Ég set means I put or I am putting, depending on context.

Here hita is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb að hita.

• að hita = to heat, warm up
• ég hita = I heat / I am heating

It looks identical to the infinitive, but the role is clear from the sentence because it comes after og and matches the subject ég.

Because Icelandic, like English, often leaves out the repeated subject in a coordinated sentence when it is the same.

So:

• Ég set skyrtuna á straubrettið og hita straujárnið

means the same as the fuller version:

• Ég set skyrtuna á straubrettið og ég hita straujárnið

The shorter version is more natural here. This does not mean Icelandic normally drops subjects in general; it is just normal coordination.

It is the direct object, so it is in the accusative.

A useful thing to know is that for many neuter singular nouns, the nominative and accusative forms look the same. So straujárnið can be nominative or accusative depending on its job in the sentence.

Here it is accusative because it is the thing being heated.

The sentence has a straightforward main-clause order:

• Ég = subject
• set = verb
• skyrtuna = object
• á straubrettið = prepositional phrase
• og hita straujárnið = second coordinated verb phrase

So the structure is basically:

Subject + Verb + Object + Place + and + Verb + Object

This is a normal, neutral word order in Icelandic.

Setja is a general verb meaning put/place/set, so it works fine.

But leggja can also be natural if you want to emphasize laying something down flat, which fits a shirt on an ironing board very well.

Very roughly:

• setja = put/place
• leggja = lay/put down

So a learner may also encounter a sentence like Ég legg skyrtuna á straubrettið. Both are understandable; leggja is just a bit more physically specific.

Because Icelandic often builds vocabulary through compounds.

Here strau- is related to að strauja, meaning to iron.

So:

• strauborð / straubretti = ironing board
• straujárn = iron

This is very common in Icelandic: once you know one root, you can often recognize several related words.