Ungplantan er græn.

Ungplantan breaks down as:

• ungplanta = seedling / young plant
• -n = the

So ungplantan means the seedling or the young plant.

A useful thing to notice is that ungplanta is a compound noun in Icelandic, not just an adjective plus a noun written separately.

In Icelandic, the definite article is very often a suffix attached to the noun.

So instead of a separate word like English the, Icelandic commonly does this:

• planta = plant
• plantan = the plant

And here:

• ungplanta = seedling / young plant
• ungplantan = the seedling

This is one of the most important differences from English.

Er is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb vera (to be).

So:

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

Since ungplantan is a singular subject, er is the correct form.

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

Ungplanta is a feminine singular noun, and here it is in the nominative. So the adjective also has to be feminine singular nominative:

• masculine: grænn
• feminine: græn
• neuter: grænt

That is why the sentence has græn.

You usually learn the gender as part of the noun’s vocabulary entry.

Here, ungplanta is a feminine noun. A clue is that many Icelandic nouns ending in -a are feminine, though that is not a perfect rule.

Because it is feminine, other words connected to it must match:

• ungplantan = feminine singular
• græn = feminine singular form of green

No. After the verb vera (to be), the adjective is usually a predicate adjective, and it normally stays indefinite in form.

So even though the noun is definite (ungplantan = the seedling), the adjective is still just græn, not a definite adjective form.

Compare the idea in English:

• the seedling is green

Even though the seedling is definite, green itself does not become the green. Icelandic works similarly here.

Yes. Ungplantan is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.

With vera (to be), the predicate adjective also matches the subject, so græn is nominative too.

So the structure is:

• ungplantan = feminine singular nominative
• græn = feminine singular nominative

Not exactly.

• ungplanta (one word) is a compound noun meaning seedling / young plant
• ung planta (two words) would be young plant, with ung as an adjective and planta as a noun

Sometimes those are close in meaning, but they are not always felt the same way. In your sentence, ungplantan is the established noun, so it is best to learn it as one word.

Icelandic has no indefinite article like English a/an.

So you would usually just remove the definite ending:

• ungplanta = a seedling / seedling
• Ungplanta er græn. = A seedling is green or Seedling is green, depending on context

Because Icelandic has no separate word for a/an, the bare noun often does that job.

A rough guide is:

• Ungplantan ≈ UNG-plahn-tan
• er ≈ ehr
• græn ≈ something like grine or graine, but not exactly English

A few important pronunciation notes:

• ng in ung- sounds like the ng in sing, and before p it may sound a bit like ngk
• Icelandic r is usually rolled or tapped
• æ in græn does not sound like English a in cat

If you want a safe learner goal, focus on:

• stress on the first syllable
• a clear r
• the correct adjective ending -æn

No. This is the most basic and neutral Icelandic word order:

• Subject + verb + adjective
• Ungplantan + er + græn

So it follows the same basic pattern as English The seedling is green.

Icelandic word order can change in other kinds of sentences, but this one is simple and standard.