Við notum burðarólina og sekkjatrilluna.

Notum is the 1st person plural present form of the verb að nota (to use).

• að nota = to use
• ég nota = I use
• við notum = we use

So Við notum ... means we use ...

This is very common in Icelandic: the subject við (we) is followed by the matching verb form notum.

In a normal sentence like this, Icelandic usually does include the subject pronoun.

• Við = we

So Við notum ... is the straightforward way to say we use ...

Unlike some languages, Icelandic does not normally drop subject pronouns just because the verb ending already shows the person.

Yes. In Icelandic, the noun often includes the definite article as a suffix attached to the end of the word.

So these are not just bare nouns:

• burðarólina = burðaról
  • definite ending
• sekkjatrilluna = sekkjatrilla
  • definite ending

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Instead of a separate word like the, Icelandic often adds the equivalent of the onto the noun itself.

So:

• burðaról = a carrying strap / lifting strap
• burðarólina = the carrying strap
• sekkjatrilla = a sack trolley / hand truck
• sekkjatrilluna = the sack trolley

They end in -na because they are:

• definite (the ...)
• singular
• direct objects
• and both are feminine nouns

The verb að nota normally takes the accusative case, so the direct objects appear in the accusative.

That gives forms like:

• burðarólin = the carrying strap (nominative)
• burðarólina = the carrying strap (accusative)

and

• sekkjatrillan = the sack trolley (nominative)
• sekkjatrilluna = the sack trolley (accusative)

So the -na ending is not random: it reflects case + definiteness.

The main clue is the verb að nota (to use). Its object is normally in the accusative.

In this sentence, the things being used are:

• burðarólina
• sekkjatrilluna

Those are the direct objects, so they appear in the accusative.

A useful learning habit in Icelandic is to memorize verbs with the case they govern. For this verb:

• að nota + accusative

So you can think of it as:

• nota eitthvað = to use something

Without the definite article, you would have the indefinite forms:

• burðaról
• sekkjatrillu

So a sentence with indefinite objects would be:

• Við notum burðaról og sekkjatrillu.
• We use a carrying strap and a sack trolley.

Notice something important:

• burðaról stays the same here
• sekkjatrilla changes to sekkjatrillu in the accusative singular

That is because different feminine nouns decline differently.

Because Icelandic nouns belong to different declension patterns.

burðaról

This noun is feminine, but its singular form changes less in the indefinite accusative:

• nominative: burðaról
• accusative: burðaról

Then with the definite article:

• nominative: burðarólin
• accusative: burðarólina

sekkjatrilla

This feminine noun follows a pattern where the accusative singular changes:

• nominative: sekkjatrilla
• accusative: sekkjatrillu

Then with the definite article:

• nominative: sekkjatrillan
• accusative: sekkjatrilluna

So the two nouns behave differently because they belong to different noun classes.

Because Icelandic usually expresses the by attaching it to the noun as a suffix.

Compare:

• English: the strap
• Icelandic: ólin / burðarólin

and here in the accusative:

• English: the strap
• Icelandic: burðarólina

This suffixed article is extremely common in Icelandic. There is also a separate article-like word (hinn/hin/hið), but in everyday sentences like this, the attached article is the normal choice.

The basic order is:

• Við = subject
• notum = verb
• burðarólina og sekkjatrilluna = object phrase

So it is basically:

• Subject – Verb – Object

That is very similar to normal English word order:

• We use the carrying strap and the sack trolley.

Icelandic can move elements around more freely than English in some contexts, but this sentence uses the most neutral order.

Yes. Og simply means and, and here it joins the two direct objects:

• burðarólina og sekkjatrilluna

So both nouns are objects of notum:

• we use the carrying strap
• and the sack trolley

This works just like English coordination with and.

Yes, in this sentence each noun is definite on its own, so each one carries its own definite form:

• burðarólina
• sekkjatrilluna

You cannot normally make only the first noun definite and leave the second one bare if you mean the X and the Y. Icelandic treats each noun separately.

The dictionary forms are the indefinite nominative singular forms:

• burðaról
• sekkjatrilla

That is the form you would usually look up in a dictionary.

If you want to learn them efficiently, memorize them with gender as well:

• burðaról — feminine
• sekkjatrilla — feminine

That will help you predict forms like -in / -ina and -an / -una later.

It is a compound noun.

• burðar- relates to carrying or bearing
• ól means strap

So burðaról is literally something like a carrying strap or lifting strap.

Compound nouns are very common in Icelandic, and they are often easier to understand once you spot the parts.

Yes, it is also a compound.

• sekkja- relates to sacks/bags
• trilla is a small wheeled carrier or trolley-type device

So sekkjatrilla is something like a sack trolley, bag trolley, or hand truck depending on context.

In Icelandic, compound nouns are everywhere, and the first part often appears in a linking or case form rather than as the plain dictionary form.

A rough English-friendly guide would be something like:

• Við ≈ vith
• notum ≈ NOH-tum
• burðarólina ≈ BUR-thar-oh-li-na
• og ≈ often like ok or og depending on speech
• sekkjatrilluna ≈ SEK-kya-tritl-lu-na

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• ð in Við and burðar- is like the th in this
• ó is a long o sound
• ll in Icelandic can be tricky and is not always like English l
• j is pronounced like English y

Exact pronunciation varies by speaker and speed, but those points will help you recognize the sentence.

In ordinary Icelandic, that would usually sound incomplete unless the sentence is part of a special context, such as a list, headline, answer fragment, or instruction.

The full normal sentence is:

• Við notum burðarólina og sekkjatrilluna.

If someone asks Hvað notum við? (What do we use?), then a shorter answer like

• Burðarólina og sekkjatrilluna.

is perfectly natural as a fragment. But as a full standalone sentence, Við is normally included.

You would change both the pronoun and the verb form:

• Ég nota burðarólina og sekkjatrilluna.
• I use the carrying strap and the sack trolley.

Compare:

• við notum = we use
• ég nota = I use

The objects stay the same because they are still definite accusative forms.

Yes. This sentence is a good example of several core Icelandic patterns:

1. Subject + verb agreement

   • við notum

2. Accusative direct objects after certain verbs

   • að nota + accusative

3. Definite article attached to the noun

   • burðarólina
   • sekkjatrilluna

4. Compound nouns

   • burðaról
   • sekkjatrilla

If you understand those four things, you are learning some of the most important building blocks of Icelandic grammar.