Kennarinn skrifar bandstrik á milli orðanna.

Because -inn is the suffixed definite article in Icelandic, so kennarinn means the teacher.

• kennari = teacher
• kennarinn = the teacher

Icelandic usually adds the to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English does.

Because it is indefinite here: bandstrik means a hyphen, not the hyphen.

So the sentence has:

• kennarinn = the teacher
• bandstrik = a hyphen

This is very normal in Icelandic, just as in English: The teacher writes a hyphen...

If you wanted the hyphen, you would use the definite form of bandstrik.

Bandstrik is the direct object of skrifar, so it is in the accusative.

However, for this noun, the nominative and accusative singular look the same, so you do not see a visible ending change here.

That is common in Icelandic, especially with many neuter nouns.

Because milli takes the genitive case, and here the meaning is between the words, so the noun must be:

• plural
• definite
• genitive

That gives orðanna.

A rough breakdown is:

• orð = word / words
• orðanna = of the words

After milli, Icelandic uses that genitive form.

Á milli is a very common Icelandic expression meaning between.

You will often see:

• á milli tveggja húsa = between two houses
• á milli orðanna = between the words

In practice, learners should usually treat á milli as a fixed phrase.

Yes, milli normally governs the genitive in standard Icelandic.

So you get forms like:

• milli hússins = between/among the house's ... depending on context
• milli orðanna = between the words
• milli vina = among friends

This is one of those case patterns that is worth memorizing with the word itself:

• milli + genitive

It is the genitive plural definite form of orð (word).

A useful way to think about it is:

• orð = base noun
• orða = genitive plural, of words
• orðanna = genitive plural definite, of the words

The ending -anna is a common definite genitive plural ending.

In the present tense, Icelandic verbs do not change for different third-person singular subjects.

So:

• hann skrifar = he writes
• hún skrifar = she writes
• það skrifar = it writes
• kennarinn skrifar = the teacher writes

That makes the verb form simpler than in some other languages.

It is the present tense, third-person singular form of skrifa (to write).

Basic forms:

• að skrifa = to write
• ég skrifa = I write
• þú skrifar = you write
• hann / hún / það skrifar = he / she / it writes

In this sentence, kennarinn is singular, so skrifar is the correct form.

No, this is a very straightforward Icelandic sentence:

• Kennarinn = subject
• skrifar = verb
• bandstrik = object
• á milli orðanna = prepositional phrase

So the structure is basically:

Subject + Verb + Object + Prepositional Phrase

That is a very common neutral word order in Icelandic.

Yes. Icelandic forms many nouns by combining smaller words, and bandstrik is one of those compound-style formations.

For learners, the important point is that compound nouns are extremely common in Icelandic, and the final part usually determines the grammatical gender and inflection pattern.

So even if you do not fully analyze every compound, it is good to get used to seeing long nouns built from smaller parts.

The letter ð is the Icelandic eth. It is usually pronounced like the th in English this, not like the th in thing.

So in orðanna, the ð is voiced.

For English speakers, that sound is familiar, but Icelandic spelling makes it look unusual at first.

In Icelandic, accented vowels are separate letters, not just optional marks.

So:

• a and á are different letters
• o and ó are different letters

The accent affects pronunciation, and sometimes learners can think of it as part of the spelling that must always be written.

In this sentence:

• á is the preposition in á milli
• orðanna contains ö, which is also its own vowel letter in Icelandic

Yes, in some forms it can.

Orð is one of those Icelandic neuter nouns whose singular and plural can look the same in the basic form:

• orð = word
• orð = words

Context tells you which one is meant.

In this sentence, orðanna clearly shows plural definite genitive, so there is no ambiguity there: it means of the words.

Probably this one:

milli / á milli + genitive

That is the key pattern behind á milli orðanna.

A second useful point is that Icelandic often puts the at the end of the noun:

• kennarinn = the teacher
• orðanna = of the words

So this sentence is a nice example of both case government and the suffixed definite article.