Dóttir mín vex hratt og þarf ný föt.

In Icelandic, possessive words like minn / mín / mitt often come after the noun. With family words especially, this is very common and natural:

• dóttir mín = my daughter
• sonur minn = my son
• móðir mín = my mother

Putting the possessive before the noun is possible in some contexts, but after the noun is the normal choice here.

Because the possessive must agree with the noun it describes in gender, number, and case.

Here, dóttir is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the correct form is mín.

Compare:

• sonur minn = my son
• dóttir mín = my daughter
• barn mitt = my child

With kinship terms and similar close personal relationships, Icelandic often uses the noun without the definite article when a possessive follows it.

So dóttir mín is a very normal way to say my daughter.

This is especially common with words like:

• faðir minn = my father
• móðir mín = my mother
• bróðir minn = my brother
• dóttir mín = my daughter

With many other nouns, Icelandic more often uses the definite form plus possessive, such as bíllinn minn = my car.

Vex is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb vaxa, which means to grow.

So:

• ég vex = I grow
• þú vex(t) = you grow
• hún vex = she grows

In this sentence, the subject is dóttir mín, which is singular, so vex is the correct verb form.

This is just part of the verb’s normal conjugation. Some Icelandic verbs change their vowel in the present tense.

For vaxa:

• infinitive: vaxa
• present singular: vex
• past singular: óx
• past participle: vaxið

So vex may look unexpected at first, but it is the standard present-tense form.

Because hratt is an adverb, meaning quickly / fast, and it modifies the verb vex.

The related adjective is hraður = fast / quick.

Compare:

• hraður bíll = a fast car
• hann hleypur hratt = he runs fast
• hún vex hratt = she grows quickly

A learner should notice that Icelandic often uses a form that looks like the neuter singular adjective as an adverb.

Because the subject is understood to be the same as in the first clause: dóttir mín.

So the sentence is effectively:

• Dóttir mín vex hratt og (hún) þarf ný föt.

Icelandic, like English, often leaves out a repeated subject in coordinated clauses when it is obvious.

Compare English:

• My daughter is growing fast and needs new clothes.

We do the same thing in English: we do not have to repeat she.

The infinitive is þurfa, which means to need.

Þarf is the 3rd person singular present form:

• ég þarf = I need
• þú þarft = you need
• hún þarf = she needs

So here þarf matches the singular subject dóttir mín.

Ný föt is the object of þarf, and þurfa takes a direct object, so this is accusative.

A few things are happening:

• föt = clothes
• föt is a neuter plural noun
• the adjective nýr must agree with it
• the correct form here is ný = neuter plural accusative

So:

• ný föt = new clothes

Also, because the phrase is indefinite (new clothes, not the new clothes), the adjective is in the strong form.

Because the adjective has to match föt.

Here, föt is:

• neuter
• plural
• accusative

So the matching adjective form is ný.

Compare:

• nýtt barn = a new child
• nýr bíll = a new car
• ný bók = a new book
• ný föt = new clothes

Nýtt would be neuter singular, and nýju is used in different grammatical environments, especially with weak declension, such as nýju fötin = the new clothes.

In normal usage, föt is treated as a plural noun meaning clothes.

So Icelandic usually uses it as a plural concept, just like English clothes.

If you want to talk about one item, you would normally use a more specific word, such as:

• skyrta = shirt
• buxur = trousers/pants
• kápa = coat

So föt is best learned as a plural word meaning clothes.

• þ is pronounced like th in thing
• it is never like the th in this

So þarf begins with the sound th as in thin.

The letter ý is pronounced roughly like a long ee sound, though the Icelandic vowel is more rounded than English ee.

So:

• ný sounds approximately like nee, but with Icelandic pronunciation rather than plain English.

This makes ný föt sound roughly like nee fut, though the real Icelandic vowels are a bit different from English ones.