Útborgunin í nýja starfinu verður líklega hærri en í því gamla.

Útborgunin comes from útborgun, which literally means something like a payment/payout paid out. In everyday context, it often refers to the take-home pay, paycheck amount, or amount you actually receive.

So in this sentence, it is not just the abstract idea of salary in general; it suggests the amount being paid out in the new job. Depending on context, English might translate it as:

• the pay
• the payout
• the take-home pay
• the paycheck

The ending -in makes it definite, so útborgunin means the payout / the pay.

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

So:

• útborgun = payout / pay
• útborgunin = the payout / the pay

That -in ending is the definite article attached to the noun.

Because here í means in in the sense of location or situation: in the new job.

When í means in/inside or indicates a static location, it takes the dative case.

So:

• starf = job
• starfinu = the job in the dative singular

And the adjective has to match:

• nýja starfinu = the new job (dative, singular, neuter, definite)

By contrast, í nýtt starf would suggest movement into a new job, because í with motion can take the accusative.

So the sentence uses í nýja starfinu because it means in the new job, not into a new job.

Because it follows í in a location sense.

Many Icelandic prepositions govern specific cases, and í can take either:

• dative for location: in
• accusative for movement into something: into

Here the meaning is static:

• í nýja starfinu = in the new job
• í því gamla = in the old one / in the old job

So both phrases use the dative.

This is because nýja is the correct weak adjective form here.

The noun starf is:

• neuter
• singular
• dative
• definite (starfinu = the job)

When an adjective comes before a definite noun in Icelandic, it usually takes the weak declension.

For nýr (new), the weak forms include:

• nýja for many singular forms, including this one

So:

• í nýja starfinu = in the new job

Even though learners often expect something like nýju, the correct form here is nýja.

Því gamla means something like the old one or that old one, standing in for the old job.

It is made up of:

• því = dative singular neuter of sá/það (that / it / the one)
• gamla = weak dative singular neuter form of gamall (old)

Since starf is a neuter noun, the replacement phrase also has to be neuter.

So:

• í því gamla = literally in that old one
• natural English: than in the old job / than in the old one

This avoids repeating starfinu.

It could repeat the noun, but Icelandic often avoids repetition when the meaning is clear.

So both of these are understandable:

• ... en í því gamla.
• ... en í gamla starfinu.

The version with því gamla is more like the old one in English. It is a neat, natural way to refer back to starfið without saying the noun again.

Verður is the present tense of verða, which often means become or is used to form a kind of future meaning.

In this sentence:

• verður líklega hærri = will probably be higher

So verður is used because the speaker is talking about what the pay will be, not what it is right now.

Compare:

• Útborgunin er hærri. = The pay is higher.
• Útborgunin verður hærri. = The pay will be higher.

That word order is very natural in Icelandic.

• verður líklega hærri = will probably be higher

Icelandic often places sentence adverbs like líklega (probably) after the finite verb.

This is especially common because Icelandic is a verb-second language, meaning the finite verb tends to come early in the clause.

So the pattern here is very normal:

• subject: Útborgunin í nýja starfinu
• finite verb: verður
• adverb: líklega
• complement: hærri

Hærri is the comparative form of hár.

• hár = high
• hærri = higher

In English, we would usually say higher pay or just more pay / better pay, but Icelandic can use hærri very naturally here.

So:

• Útborgunin verður líklega hærri = The pay will probably be higher

Even though hár literally means high, it is commonly used with pay, prices, wages, and amounts.

Because Icelandic often talks about pay, prices, wages, and similar things as being high/low rather than more/less.

So Icelandic naturally says:

• hærri laun = higher wages
• hærra verð = higher price
• hærri útborgun = higher payout/pay

That is very similar to English, where we also say higher salary or higher pay, not just more salary.

En means than in comparisons.

So:

• hærri en ... = higher than ...

In the full sentence:

• hærri en í því gamla = higher than in the old one / than in the old job

It links the two parts of the comparison.

Because the comparison is really between the pay in one job and the pay in another job.

So Icelandic keeps the preposition:

• í nýja starfinu = in the new job
• en í því gamla = than in the old one

English sometimes does the same:

• higher in the new job than in the old one

So the second í is necessary because the phrase is not just than the old one, but specifically than in the old one.

Starf (job) is a neuter noun.

That matters because adjectives, pronouns, and articles in Icelandic must agree with the noun in gender, number, case, and definiteness.

Because starf is neuter, we get forms like:

• starfinu = dative singular definite neuter
• nýja = adjective agreeing with that noun
• því = dative singular neuter pronoun
• gamla = adjective agreeing with the implied neuter noun

So the neuter gender of starf affects several words in the sentence.

Yes, that is quite close to the Icelandic structure.

A more literal translation would be something like:

• The payout in the new job will probably be higher than in that old one.

A more natural English translation would usually be:

• The pay in the new job will probably be higher than in the old one.
• The take-home pay in the new job will probably be higher than in the old job.

So your literal version is useful for understanding the grammar, even if smoother English might word it a little differently.