Ef liðið okkar vinnur leikinn, þá fögnum við sigri.

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Breakdown of Ef liðið okkar vinnur leikinn, þá fögnum við sigri.

• okkar: our
• ef: if
• þá: then

Questions & Answers about Ef liðið okkar vinnur leikinn, þá fögnum við sigri.

How do you say ‘our team’ in Icelandic? Why is it liðið okkar and not vort lið?

In Icelandic you usually place the possessive pronoun okkar after the noun. liðið is the definite form of lið (team) with the neuter definite article -ið. So liðið okkar literally means “the team of ours” = our team. You could use the strong possessive form várt lið (neuter nominative) but it’s rare in everyday speech; the standard pattern is noun + okkar.

What case and form is leikinn, and why does it end in -inn?

Leikinn is the masculine singular accusative definite form of leikr/leikur (game). In Icelandic, direct objects take the accusative case, and the suffix -inn marks both definiteness and the masculine accusative singular ending. Thus leikinn = the game (as object).

Why does the verb vinnur come before leikinn in the if clause?

In subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like Ef (if), Icelandic word order is: conjunction (Ef) – subject (liðið okkar) – verb (vinnur) – object (leikinn). English puts the verb after the subject too, but Icelandic still treats it as S-V-O even though the conjunction is first.