Ég er með smá reiðufé í veskinu, en ég borga venjulega með korti.

In everyday Icelandic, vera með is a very common way to say have, especially when you mean have with you, be carrying, or have available right now.

So:

• Ég er með smá reiðufé = I have a little cash on me

You could also say Ég hef smá reiðufé, but that sounds more formal or less conversational in this kind of situation.

No. The two með forms are doing different jobs.

1. In ég er með smá reiðufé, er með is part of the idiomatic expression vera með, meaning to have.
2. In með korti, með is the normal preposition meaning with / by means of.

So even though the word is the same, the grammar is different in the two parts of the sentence.

Here reiðufé is the object of vera með, so it is in the accusative.

The reason that is hard to see is that reiðufé is a neuter noun whose nominative and accusative forms look the same in the singular.

So:

• nominative: reiðufé
• accusative: reiðufé

The form does not change, even though the grammatical role does.

Smá here means a little, some, or a small amount of.

In modern everyday Icelandic, smá is very often used as a kind of fixed, informal modifier before nouns:

• smá kaffi = a little coffee
• smá peningur / smá peninga depending on structure
• smá reiðufé = a little cash

Learners often expect it to behave like a fully regular adjective, but in common speech it is often used in this frozen form.

Reiðufé means cash or ready money, meaning actual money you can spend directly, especially physical money.

It is more specific than peningar, which is the general word for money.

So:

• peningar = money in general
• reiðufé = cash

In this sentence, smá reiðufé means a little cash.

Because reiðufé is usually treated as an uncountable noun, like cash in English.

Compare:

• English: I have some cash
• Icelandic: Ég er með smá reiðufé

You are talking about an amount of money, not separate individual units.

Because í means in, and here it describes location, not movement.

With í:

• dative is used for being somewhere
• accusative is used for motion into something

So:

• í veskinu = in the wallet
• í veskið = into the wallet

Since the cash is already inside the wallet, Icelandic uses the dative: veskinu.

The form veskinu contains the noun plus the definite article, which in Icelandic is usually attached to the end of the word.

• veski = wallet / purse
• veskið = the wallet
• í veskinu = in the wallet

So the ending shows both:

• definiteness: the
• case: dative, because of í with location

It can mean either, depending on context.

In this sentence, wallet is the most natural translation because the sentence talks about carrying cash and paying by card.

If you want to be more specific, context usually does the job. Icelandic veski is broader than English wallet in some situations.

Because this með is a normal preposition, and here it requires the dative.

The noun kort is neuter:

• nominative/accusative: kort
• dative: korti

So:

• með korti = with a card / by card

This is one of the most useful patterns to remember:

• með + dative

Because the meaning is generically by card, not with the specific card.

So:

• með korti = with a card / by card
• með kortinu = with the card

In English we often say by card or with a card in a general sense, and Icelandic does the same kind of thing here.

Venjulega means usually, normally, or generally.

In this sentence it comes after the verb:

• Ég borga venjulega með korti

That is very natural. But it can also move:

• Venjulega borga ég með korti

If you put it first, Icelandic word order changes because of the verb-second pattern, so you say:

• Venjulega borga ég...
• not Venjulega ég borga...

Yes. Borga is a very common everyday verb meaning to pay.

Examples:

• Ég borga með korti = I pay by card
• Ég borgaði fyrir matinn = I paid for the food

Another verb you may see is greiða, which can also mean pay, but it is often a bit more formal or official in tone.

Because en joins two full clauses:

• Ég er með smá reiðufé í veskinu
• ég borga venjulega með korti

Each clause needs its own subject, so Icelandic normally repeats ég here.

That is the same basic idea as in English:

• I have some cash, but I usually pay by card

Because the sentence contains two independent clauses joined by en:

• Ég er með smá reiðufé í veskinu
• ég borga venjulega með korti

Using a comma before en is standard and natural here, much like in English when you write two full clauses joined by but.