Atvinnurekandinn ræður starfsmanninn.

Atvinnurekandinn means the employer.

The basic noun is atvinnurekandi = employer. Icelandic often makes compound nouns, so long words are very common. This one is built from parts related to work/employment and someone who runs or operates.

Then Icelandic adds the definite article to the end of the noun:

• atvinnurekandi = employer
• atvinnurekandinn = the employer

So the word is long, but its structure is very normal for Icelandic.

The dictionary form is starfsmaður, meaning employee or staff member.

In the sentence, it appears as starfsmanninn because:

• the noun is in the accusative singular
• it has the definite article attached

So:

• starfsmaður = employee
• starfsmann = employee in the accusative singular
• starfsmanninn = the employee in the accusative singular

The change from maður to mann is part of the noun’s inflection and is something learners usually just have to get used to.

Because Icelandic usually puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English does.

So here:

• atvinnurekandinn = the employer
• starfsmanninn = the employee

That said, the two words are not in the same case:

• atvinnurekandinn is the subject
• starfsmanninn is the object

They both happen to end in -inn, but the full form of each word still reflects its own case and declension.

• Atvinnurekandinn is nominative singular
• starfsmanninn is accusative singular

The nominative is used for the subject of the sentence, the person doing the action.

The accusative is used here for the direct object, the person receiving the action, because ráða in the sense hire takes an accusative object.

So the structure is:

• Atvinnurekandinn = the employer, as subject
• ræður = hires
• starfsmanninn = the employee, as object

Ræður is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb ráða.

So:

• ráða = infinitive, to hire / to employ in this sentence
• ræður = hires / is hiring, depending on context

Because the subject atvinnurekandinn is singular, the verb is also singular.

This is part of Icelandic verb inflection.

The infinitive is ráða, but in the present singular the vowel changes:

• ég ræð = I hire
• þú ræður = you hire
• hann/hún/það ræður = he/she/it hires

So á changes to æ in these forms.

This kind of vowel change is very common in Icelandic, so it is best to learn verbs with their main forms rather than expecting every form to look close to the infinitive.

No. Ráða is a common Icelandic verb with several meanings, depending on context.

It can mean things like:

• hire / employ
• decide
• manage / control
• in some contexts, advise or figure out

In this sentence, because it has a direct object meaning a person being taken on for work, the intended meaning is hire or employ.

So here, Atvinnurekandinn ræður starfsmanninn means that the employer is hiring the employee.

In this sentence, yes. It follows the familiar subject–verb–object order:

• Atvinnurekandinn = subject
• ræður = verb
• starfsmanninn = object

So it lines up well with English: The employer hires the employee.

However, Icelandic word order is more flexible than English word order. In main clauses, Icelandic usually follows the V2 rule, which means the finite verb tends to stay in the second position.

So you can move things around for emphasis, but the verb still usually stays second.

A rough English approximation is RYE-thur.

A few important sound notes:

• æ is roughly like the vowel in eye
• ð is like th in this
• the r is not an English r; in Icelandic it is usually tapped or rolled

So ræður will not sound exactly like any English word, but RYE-thur is a useful starting point.

Because Icelandic normally uses a suffixed definite article.

Instead of saying a separate word before the noun, Icelandic usually attaches the idea of the to the end of the noun itself:

• atvinnurekandi = employer
• atvinnurekandinn = the employer
• starfsmaður = employee
• starfsmanninn = the employee

So if you are waiting to see a separate Icelandic word that works exactly like English the, you usually will not.

You would say:

Atvinnurekandi ræður starfsmann.

That means something like:

• An employer hires an employee
• or Employer hires employee, depending on context

This also shows an important difference from English: Icelandic does not normally have a separate indefinite article like a/an. A bare noun often does that job.

So:

• atvinnurekandi can mean an employer
• starfsmann can mean an employee in the right case

That is why the definite forms with -inn are especially important to notice.