Ég þurrka blettinn strax af áður en hann verður stærri.

It is the present tense, 1st person singular: ég þurrka = I wipe / I am wiping / I’ll wipe depending on context.

This can be confusing because þurrka is also the infinitive form of the verb. Icelandic weak verbs often look the same in the infinitive and in 1st person singular present.

The difference is shown by context:

• að þurrka = to wipe
• ég þurrka = I wipe

So in this sentence, Ég makes it clear that þurrka is a finite verb, not an infinitive.

Because blettinn is the accusative singular definite form, and here the stain is the direct object of þurrka.

The forms are:

• blettur = a stain or stain as a dictionary form, nominative singular
• bletturinn = the stain in the nominative singular
• blettinn = the stain in the accusative singular

Since you are wiping the stain, the noun is the thing being acted on, so Icelandic uses the accusative.

Because þurrka af works like a verb + particle combination, similar to English wipe off.

In this sentence:

• þurrka = wipe
• af = off

Icelandic often separates this kind of particle from the verb in a finite clause. A very common pattern is:

verb + object + particle

So:

• þurrka blettinn af = wipe the stain off

That is why af appears later in the sentence instead of directly next to þurrka.

Strax means immediately, right away, or at once.

It is an adverb, and here it modifies the action of wiping. The sentence is saying that the wiping happens without delay.

Its position is natural Icelandic word order:

• Ég þurrka blettinn strax af ...

Icelandic adverbs can sometimes move around for emphasis, but this placement is very normal and natural.

Also, strax is separate from af:

• strax tells you when
• af belongs with þurrka and tells you off

Áður en means before when it introduces a full clause.

So:

• áður en hann verður stærri = before it gets bigger

It is two words because it is a fixed conjunction made from:

• áður = earlier / before
• en = than / as / when in certain structures

A useful distinction is:

• áður en + clause
• fyrir + noun phrase in many simple time expressions

For example:

• áður en hann verður stærri = before it gets bigger
• fyrir mat = before dinner

So in your sentence, áður en is used because what follows is a whole clause: hann verður stærri.

Because blettur is a masculine noun, and Icelandic pronouns usually agree with the grammatical gender of the noun, not with natural gender.

So even though a stain is an inanimate thing, Icelandic refers back to it with:

• hann if the noun is masculine
• hún if the noun is feminine
• það if the noun is neuter

Here:

• blettur is masculine
• therefore the pronoun is hann

In natural English, you would usually translate that as it, not he.

Because verða means become or get, while vera means be.

So:

• hann er stór = it is big
• hann verður stærri = it gets bigger / it becomes bigger

In this sentence, the idea is that the stain may grow or spread, so verður is the right verb.

Also, verður is the 3rd person singular present form of verða, matching hann.

Stærri is the comparative form of stór, so it means bigger.

The basic comparison is:

• stór = big
• stærri = bigger
• stærstur = biggest

Here it is used as a predicate adjective after verður:

• hann verður stærri = it gets bigger

The adjective agrees with the subject. Since hann refers to a masculine singular noun, stærri is the correct form here.

A learner may wonder about stærra. That form is typically used with neuter singular:

• það verður stærra = it gets bigger, if the noun referred to is neuter

The sentence has:

• a main clause
• followed by a subordinate clause

Main clause: Ég þurrka blettinn strax af

Subordinate clause: áður en hann verður stærri

A useful way to see the structure is:

• Ég = subject
• þurrka = finite verb
• blettinn = direct object
• strax = adverb
• af = particle
• áður en hann verður stærri = subordinate clause

Icelandic main clauses usually follow the V2 pattern, meaning the finite verb tends to come in the second position. Here the first element is Ég, so the verb þurrka comes next.

If you changed what comes first, the verb would still stay second:

• Strax þurrka ég blettinn af ...

That is a very typical Icelandic word-order feature.

It can mean all of those, depending on context.

Icelandic does not use a tense system exactly like English simple present vs present progressive. So Ég þurrka can cover several English possibilities:

• I wipe
• I am wiping
• I’ll wipe

In this sentence, because of strax and the idea of preventing the stain from getting bigger, English often uses something like I’ll wipe the stain off right away or I wipe the stain off right away.

So the Icelandic form is simply present tense, but the best English translation depends on the situation.