Bakhliðin er hvít.

The ending -in is the definite article, equivalent to English the.
So:

• bakhlið = back side / reverse side
• bakhliðin = the back side / the reverse side

In Icelandic, the is very often attached to the noun instead of being a separate word.

Because Icelandic usually expresses the as a suffix on the noun. That is why English the back side becomes bakhliðin rather than a two-word phrase.

There is also a separate article in Icelandic, but it is not the normal choice in a simple sentence like this one.

Er means is. It is the present-tense singular form of the verb vera, to be.

This is a very common irregular verb, so it is worth memorizing early:

• ég er = I am
• þú ert = you are
• hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is

Because Icelandic adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and usually case.

Here, bakhliðin is feminine singular, so the adjective also appears in the matching form:

• feminine singular: hvít
• masculine singular: hvítur
• neuter singular: hvítt

So hvít tells you that the noun is feminine singular here.

Because hvít is a predicate adjective here: it comes after er and describes the subject.

After vera (to be), Icelandic usually uses the strong adjective form:

• Bakhliðin er hvít.

A form like hvíta is what you expect when the adjective stands directly before a definite noun:

• hvíta bakhliðin = the white back side

So:

• bakhliðin er hvít = predicate adjective
• hvíta bakhliðin = attributive adjective

Yes, it is feminine in this sentence. You can tell in two main ways:

• A dictionary or word list will mark bakhlið as feminine.
• The adjective form hvít matches a feminine singular noun.

In Icelandic, noun gender is something you usually learn together with the noun itself.

It is not directly after the noun in the same way as English the white side. Instead, it comes after the verb er.

The structure is:

• Bakhliðin = subject
• er = verb
• hvít = predicate adjective

So this is the Icelandic equivalent of The back side is white, not the white back side.

Yes. Icelandic uses compound words very often, and they are normally written as one word.

That means something that looks like two words in English can easily be a single word in Icelandic. This is completely normal and very common.

Yes, but it changes the meaning.

• Bakhliðin er hvít. = The back side is white.
• Bakhlið er hvít. = A back side is white or back side is white, depending on context

The version with -in is definite, so it refers to a specific back side.

A rough English-friendly guide:

• hvít ≈ kveet
  In modern Icelandic, hv is often pronounced close to kv.

• bakhliðin ≈ BAHKH-hli-thin
  A few notes:

  • bakh has a sound like ch in Scottish loch or German Bach
  • í sounds like ee
  • ð sounds like th in this

The exact Icelandic sounds do not match English perfectly, so an approximation is normal at first.