Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Við tökum lyftuna, þar sem stiginn er mjög langur. - We take the elevator, since the stairs are very long.

Verb + object → accusative case
The verb taka (to take) takes a direct object in the accusative.
- Nominative (dictionary form): lyfta (an elevator, a lift)
- Accusative singular: also lyfta (same shape as nominative here)
Definite article is suffixed
Icelandic usually sticks the definite article onto the end of the noun:
- lyfta = a lift / an elevator
- lyftan = the lift (nominative)
- lyftuna = the lift (accusative)
Since lyfta is the object, we need accusative
- definite article → lyftuna.
Why not lyftan?
-an is nominative definite; the object must be accusative, so -una is correct here.

So: Við tökum lyftuna literally = We take the-elevator (accusative).

Could I say Við tökum lyftu instead of Við tökum lyftuna?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:

Við tökum lyftu = We take an elevator / we take the elevator (in a general sense)
Við tökum lyftuna = We take the elevator (a specific, known elevator in this context)

In many real situations (e.g. in a particular building) lyftuna is more natural, because both speaker and listener know which elevator they mean.

Why is stiginn used and not stigi or stigann?

Stigi (staircase, stairway) is a masculine noun.

Its basic forms (singular) are:

Nominative: stigi
Accusative: stiga
Dative: stiga
Genitive: stiga

When you add the definite article to a masculine noun, it becomes:

Nominative definite: stiginn (the staircase)
Accusative definite: stigann
Dative definite: stiganum
Genitive definite: stigans

In the clause stiginn er mjög langur:

stiginn is the subject of the verb er (is), so it must be nominative definite → stiginn, not stigann or stigi.

So the pattern is:

Subject (nominative): Stiginn er mjög langur.
Object (accusative): e.g. Ég þríf stigann. – I clean the staircase.

Why is the adjective langur and not something like löng, langan, or langt?

Adjectives in Icelandic must agree with the noun in:

Gender
Number
Case

Here the noun is stiginn:

Gender: masculine
Number: singular
Case: nominative

The base adjective is langur (long). Its nominative singular forms are:

Masculine: langur
Feminine: löng
Neuter: langt

Because stigi/stiginn is masculine nominative singular, the adjective must also be masculine nominative singular → langur.

So:

Stiginn er mjög langur. – The staircase is very long.
Gatan er mjög löng. – The street is very long. (gata is feminine)
Húsið er mjög langt. – The building is very long. (hús is neuter)

Why is þar sem used here to mean because? I thought þar sem meant where.

þar sem has two main uses:

Literal “where” (place)
- Við hittumst þar sem stiginn endar.
  We meet where the staircase ends.
“Because” / “since” (reason)
In more formal or written style, þar sem can introduce a reason, similar to English since or as:
- Við tökum lyftuna, þar sem stiginn er mjög langur.
  We take the elevator, since/because the staircase is very long.

In everyday spoken Icelandic, af því að is more common for because:

Við tökum lyftuna af því að stiginn er mjög langur.

So in this sentence, þar sem is being used in the “since/because” sense, not the “where” sense. Context and word order tell you which meaning is intended.

Is the comma before þar sem required, and does it change the meaning?

Yes, the comma is normal and helpful here.

Við tökum lyftuna, þar sem stiginn er mjög langur.
The comma separates the main clause from the subordinate reason clause:
- Main: Við tökum lyftuna.
- Subordinate (reason): þar sem stiginn er mjög langur.

Without a comma, it is still understandable, but written Icelandic generally uses a comma before such clauses. The comma doesn’t really change the meaning; it just clarifies that what follows þar sem is an explanation/reason.

Why is it stiginn er mjög langur and not something like mjög stiginn er langur? Where do adverbs like mjög go?

The normal word order is:

[Subject] – [verb] – [adverb] – [adjective / rest]

So:

stiginn (subject)
er (verb)
mjög (adverb “very”)
langur (adjective “long”)

→ stiginn er mjög langur

You would not say mjög stiginn er langur. The adverb mjög modifies langur, and it comes immediately before the word it modifies, but still after the finite verb er.

More examples:

Húsið er mjög hátt. – The house is very tall.
Bíllinn er mjög dýr. – The car is very expensive.

Could I say Við notum lyftuna instead of Við tökum lyftuna?

You could, but the nuance changes:

Við tökum lyftuna
Literally “we take the elevator”. This is the most natural phrasing for we ride/use the elevator (instead of the stairs) in this context.
Við notum lyftuna
Literally “we use the elevator”. Grammatically fine, but sounds slightly more generic, like talking about overall usage rather than a specific choice in this moment.

In the situation “The stairs are long, so we’ll go by elevator,” Við tökum lyftuna is the idiomatic choice.

Why is the verb tökum used here? How does the tense work in Icelandic compared to English?

tökum is the 1st person plural present tense of taka (to take):

Ég tek – I take
Þú tekur – you take (sing.)
Hann/Hún/Það tekur – he/she/it takes
Við tökum – we take
Þið takið – you take (pl.)
Þeir/Þær/Þau taka – they take

The Icelandic present tense can correspond to several English forms:

We take the elevator (habitual)
We are taking the elevator (right now)
We’ll take the elevator / We are going to take the elevator (near future, in context)

So Við tökum lyftuna can be translated depending on context as:

We take the elevator (instead of the stairs).
We are taking the elevator.
We’ll take the elevator (since the stairs are so long).

Can the subject pronoun við be dropped, like in some other languages?

No, not normally. Icelandic is not a “pro-drop” language like Spanish or Italian. You usually must explicitly say the subject pronoun:

Við tökum lyftuna. – We take the elevator.
(You cannot normally just say Tökum lyftuna with the same meaning.)

The only time you might see a finite verb without the subject is in imperatives (commands):

Förum! – Let’s go!
Here the subject “we” is understood, but this is a special imperative form, not the normal present tense used in your sentence.