Við tryggjum húsið.

• Við = the subject pronoun we
• tryggjum = the finite verb, meaning insure / secure / make sure of depending on context
• húsið = the direct object, the house

So grammatically, it is a straightforward subject + verb + object sentence.

Tryggja is the dictionary form (the infinitive), equivalent to English to insure / to secure.

In a full sentence, Icelandic normally uses a conjugated verb form. Because the subject is við (we), the verb changes to tryggjum, which is the 1st person plural present tense form.

Very roughly:

• að tryggja = to insure / to secure
• við tryggjum = we insure / we secure

The ending -um is a very common clue that the verb is we-form.

The base form is að tryggja.

You will usually find verbs in dictionaries under the infinitive with að:

• að tryggja = to insure / to secure / to guarantee

So if you want to memorize the verb, memorize að tryggja, and then learn forms like tryggjum as part of its conjugation.

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article onto the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• hús = house
• húsið = the house

Here the ending -ið is the definite article for this form of the neuter noun hús.

This is one of the most important differences from English grammar.

It is in the accusative, because it is the direct object of the verb tryggja.

However, with this noun, there is a detail that often confuses learners:

• nominative singular: húsið
• accusative singular: húsið

So the form looks the same in both cases. That is normal for many neuter nouns in Icelandic.

In this sentence, we know húsið is the object because of its role in the sentence, not because the form looks different.

Hús is a neuter noun.

That matters because in Icelandic, gender affects articles, adjectives, and sometimes pronouns. The form húsið uses the neuter singular definite ending.

So when you learn a noun in Icelandic, it is very useful to learn its gender too:

• hús = neuter

No. Við can also be a preposition in Icelandic.

That means the same written form can mean different things depending on context. As a preposition, við can mean things like with, against, or by, depending on the phrase.

But in Við tryggjum húsið, it is clearly the pronoun we, because it is functioning as the subject of the verb tryggjum.

Usually, in a normal statement, Icelandic keeps the subject pronoun, so Við tryggjum húsið is the ordinary way to say We insure the house.

If you say Tryggjum húsið, it may sound more like a suggestion or exhortation:

• Tryggjum húsið! = Let’s insure/secure the house!

So leaving out við changes the feel of the sentence.

Yes. Við tryggjum húsið has the normal basic order:

subject + verb + object

However, Icelandic also follows a verb-second pattern in main clauses. That means if you move another element to the front, the verb usually still stays in second position.

For example:

• Í dag tryggjum við húsið. = Today we insure the house.

Notice that when Í dag comes first, tryggjum still stays second, and við moves after the verb.

A rough learner-friendly approximation is:

vith TRIH-gyum HOO-sith

A few useful notes:

• ú in húsið is like oo in food
• ð is a soft sound like th in this, though at the end of a word it can be very weak
• y in tryggjum is not like English y; it is a vowel sound, closer to German ü or French u
• Icelandic stress usually falls on the first syllable

So the main stress is on:

• VIÐ
• TRYGGJUM
• HÚSIÐ