Það er blóð á borðinu.

Here það is mostly a dummy subject. In English, we often say there is something, as in There is blood on the table. Icelandic very often uses það er in this kind of sentence.

So in Það er blóð á borðinu, það does not really refer to a specific thing. It is closer to the there in there is than to a normal it.

Er is the present tense singular form of the verb að vera — to be.

So:

• að vera = to be
• er = is

In this sentence, Það er blóð á borðinu literally has the structure It/there is blood on the table.

Because Icelandic usually expresses this idea with það er rather than a direct equivalent of English existential there.

So:

• English: There is blood on the table
• Icelandic: Það er blóð á borðinu

This is just a normal Icelandic way to say that something exists or is present somewhere.

Icelandic has no indefinite article. English uses a/an, but Icelandic does not.

So:

• blóð can mean blood
• depending on context, it may correspond to English blood, some blood, or a quantity of blood

Also, blood is a mass noun, so English would not usually say a blood here anyway.

Blóð is a neuter noun in Icelandic.

Yes, gender matters in Icelandic because adjectives, pronouns, and articles often agree with the noun. In this sentence there is no adjective attached to blóð, so you do not see much agreement yet, but it still matters grammatically.

For example, if you added an adjective, the form would change to match the neuter noun.

Á is the preposition meaning on in this sentence.

So:

• á borðinu = on the table

A very important point is that Icelandic prepositions often control different cases depending on meaning. With á, location and movement are treated differently.

Here it means location — the blood is already on the table — so the noun after á is in the dative.

Because borðinu means the table in the correct case for this sentence.

The base noun is:

• borð = table (neuter)

In á borðinu, the ending -inu shows:

• definite: the table
• dative singular
• neuter

So borðinu is basically borð + the definite article + the dative singular ending.

This is a very common and important distinction.

With á:

• dative usually indicates location: something is on something
• accusative usually indicates motion toward a surface: something moves onto something

So:

• Það er blóð á borðinu = There is blood on the table
  
  • location, so dative
• Ég set blóð á borðið would mean something like I put blood onto the table
  
  • movement toward the table, so accusative

That is why borðinu is correct here.

The dictionary form is borð.

When you look nouns up in a dictionary, you usually find the nominative singular form. Here:

• dictionary form: borð
• form in the sentence: borðinu

So the sentence uses an inflected form of the noun because Icelandic changes noun endings according to case, number, and definiteness.

Not always. Borð can have a few related meanings depending on context, including table and sometimes board or other surface-related senses.

In á borðinu, the natural meaning is on the table.

So yes, in this sentence, borð should be understood as table.

Yes. Icelandic word order is fairly flexible compared with English, although it still follows important rules.

For example, you could also say:

• Á borðinu er blóð.

That still means There is blood on the table, but now the location is emphasized a bit more.

The version Það er blóð á borðinu is a very natural neutral sentence.

You add ekki:

• Það er ekki blóð á borðinu.

That means There is not blood on the table or more naturally There is no blood on the table.

So:

• er = is
• er ekki = is not

These two letters are very important in Icelandic.

• þ is like the th in English thin
• ð is like the th in English this

So in this sentence:

• Það starts with þ, like thin
• blóð contains ð, like this
• borðinu also contains ð

A rough pronunciation guide for the whole sentence would be something like:

• THaath er bloath ow BOR-thi-nu

That is only approximate, but it can help as a first step.

It is natural Icelandic. This is a normal way to say that something is present somewhere.

The structure:

• Það er + noun + place

is very common and useful. So this sentence is not strange or overly artificial. It is a good model for similar sentences, such as:

• Það er bók á borðinu. = There is a book on the table.
• Það er vatn á gólfinu. = There is water on the floor.