Ég set brokkolíið í stóran pott.

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

• brokkolí = broccoli
• brokkolíið = the broccoli

The ending -ið is the definite article for a neuter singular noun here.

It is in the accusative, because it is the direct object of set in this sentence: you are putting the broccoli somewhere.

For this noun, the nominative and accusative singular look the same:

• nominative: brokkolíið
• accusative: brokkolíið

So the case is not visible from the form alone, but its role in the sentence tells you it is accusative.

This is a very common Icelandic pattern.

The preposition í can take either:

• accusative when there is movement into something
• dative when something is in a place, with no movement

Here, the broccoli is being put into the pot, so Icelandic uses the accusative:

• í stóran pott = into a big pot

Compare:

• Ég set brokkolíið í stóran pott. = I put the broccoli into a big pot.
• Brokkolíið er í stórum potti. = The broccoli is in a big pot.

Because stóran has to agree with pott in gender, number, and case.

Here, pottur is:

• masculine
• singular
• accusative

So the adjective also has to be masculine singular accusative. The strong form is:

• stóran pott

This is one of the most important things to get used to in Icelandic: adjectives change form to match the noun.

Pottur is the nominative singular form, which is the form dictionaries usually list.

But in this sentence, after í with motion, the noun is in the accusative singular, so pottur changes to pott.

So:

• nominative: pottur
• accusative: pott

This kind of change is very common in masculine nouns.

Here í means into rather than just in.

English often uses two different words:

• in for location
• into for movement

Icelandic often uses the same preposition, í, and the case tells you which meaning is intended:

• í
  • accusative = into
• í
  • dative = in

So í stóran pott is understood as into a big pot.

This is the normal, straightforward Icelandic word order:

• Ég = subject
• set = verb
• brokkolíið = direct object
• í stóran pott = prepositional phrase

So it is basically:

Subject – Verb – Object – Place/Direction

Icelandic can vary word order more than English in some contexts, but this sentence uses the most natural neutral order.

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

So:

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

In Icelandic, the simple present can often translate either as English I put or I am putting, depending on context.

Icelandic does not have an indefinite article like English a/an.

So:

• pottur can mean pot or a pot, depending on context
• stóran pott = a big pot / big pot, depending on context

If a noun does not have the definite ending, it is often understood as indefinite when that makes sense.

Yes. That would mean something like I am putting the broccoli into a big pot and makes the ongoing action more explicit.

Compare:

• Ég set brokkolíið í stóran pott. = I put / I am putting the broccoli into a big pot.
• Ég er að setja brokkolíið í stóran pott. = I am in the process of putting the broccoli into a big pot.

The shorter sentence with ég set is completely normal and very common.

A learner-friendly approximation is:

BROHK-koh-LEE-ith

A few useful notes:

• the stress is on the first syllable, as almost always in Icelandic
• ó is a different vowel from plain o
• í is a long ee sound
• the ð in -ið is like the th in English this

The final -ið is the same definite ending you will see in many neuter nouns.