Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Gott samband þýðir að við skipuleggjum helgar og frídaga saman. - A good relationship means that we plan weekends and days off together.

connection / link (technical or abstract):
- Símasamband – phone connection
relationship / bond between people:
- Þau eiga gott samband – They have a good relationship

Here, because the sentence is about planning weekends and holidays together, samband clearly refers to the quality of the relationship between people, not e.g. a phone signal.

Why is it gott samband and not góð samband or góður samband?

Adjectives in Icelandic agree with the gender, number and case of the noun they describe.

Samband is:
- neuter
- singular
- nominative case (it’s the subject of the sentence)

The adjective góður (good) has different forms:

masculine nominative singular: góður
feminine nominative singular: góð
neuter nominative singular: gott

Since samband is neuter nominative singular, the correct form is gott samband.

What is þýðir? Which verb is this, and what form is it?

Þýðir is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb þýða.

Infinitive: að þýða – to mean / to translate
3rd person singular present: hann / hún / það þýðir – he / she / it means

In this sentence:

Gott samband þýðir...
literally: A good relationship means...

So þýðir is the main verb of the sentence, equivalent to English means.

What does að mean in að við skipuleggjum helgar og frídaga saman? Is it the same að as in að fara (to go)?

The word að has several different uses in Icelandic.

Here, in að við skipuleggjum helgar og frídaga saman, að is a conjunction meaning that, introducing a subordinate clause:

Gott samband þýðir að...
A good relationship means that...

This is not the same use as in að fara (to go), where að functions like English to before an infinitive verb.

So:

að
- finite clause → that
  - Ég held að hann komi. – I think that he is coming.
að
- infinitive → to
  - að fara, að borða, að sofa – to go, to eat, to sleep

In your sentence, it’s the “that”-type að.

Why is it við skipuleggjum and not við skipuleggja?

The verb is að skipuleggja (to organize, to plan). Its present tense is irregular in spelling:

ég skipulegg – I plan
þú skipuleggur – you (sg.) plan
hann / hún / það skipuleggur – he / she / it plans
við skipuleggjum – we plan
þið skipuleggjið – you (pl.) plan
þeir / þær / þau skipuleggja – they plan

So:

við skipuleggjum – we plan (1st person plural)
þau skipuleggja – they plan (3rd person plural)

Using við skipuleggja would be grammatically wrong; it mixes the wrong person ending with við.

How is skipuleggjum built, and how do you pronounce it?

Skipuleggja is historically a compound from skipu- + leggja (to lay/put), but you don’t really need that to use it; it just means to organize / to plan.

Form here: skipuleggjum

stem: skipulegg-
ending: -jum (1st person plural present)

Pronunciation (rough guide for English speakers):

skipu- ≈ skipu-, with i like in skip and u like in put
leggjum: in Icelandic, ggj is often pronounced a bit like dy or gy.
So leggjum is something like leg-yum (not leg-gjum).

Very rough overall: SKI-pu-leg-yum (stress on the first syllable).

Why are helgar and frídaga in these forms? What cases are they, and why are they different?

Both helgar and frídaga are direct objects of skipuleggjum (we plan), so they are in the accusative plural.

helgar – weekends
- singular: helgi (f.) – a weekend
- plural nominative: helgar
- plural accusative: helgar (same as nominative for many feminine nouns)
frídaga – days off / holidays (as specific days)
- singular nominative: frídagur – a day off
- singular accusative: frídag
- plural nominative: frídagar
- plural accusative: frídaga

So:

skipuleggja helgar – plan weekends
skipuleggja frídaga – plan days off

They look different because helgi is feminine and frídagur is masculine, and they follow different declension patterns, but both are accusative plural.

Could you also say helgarnar og frídagana instead? How would that change the meaning?

Yes, you could say:

Gott samband þýðir að við skipuleggjum helgarnar og frídagana saman.

This uses definite forms:

helgarnar – the weekends (acc. pl. def.)
frídagana – the days off / the holidays (acc. pl. def.)

Difference in nuance:

helgar og frídaga – weekends and holidays in general
helgarnar og frídagana – some specific weekends and holidays that both speakers have in mind (for example, this year’s weekends and days off)

In many contexts, the original indefinite version sounds more like a general statement about what a good relationship is like.

What exactly does saman add? Could it be left out?

Saman is an adverb meaning together.

við skipuleggjum helgar og frídaga – we plan weekends and holidays
við skipuleggjum helgar og frídaga saman – we plan weekends and holidays together

If you leave out saman, the sentence still makes sense, but you lose the important idea that both people take part in the planning. Including saman emphasizes joint activity and cooperation, which fits well with the idea of a good relationship.

Is the word order við skipuleggjum helgar og frídaga saman fixed, or can it be changed?

The basic neutral word order in Icelandic main and many subordinate clauses is:

Subject – Verb – (Objects) – Adverb(s)

So við skipuleggjum helgar og frídaga saman is the most natural order:

við (subject)
skipuleggjum (verb)
helgar og frídaga (objects)
saman (adverb)

You might hear small variations for emphasis, for example putting saman earlier in spoken language, but in this kind of simple sentence, the given order is the standard and most idiomatic choice. For a learner, it’s best to keep this order.

Is Gott samband þýðir að... a general statement? How would I say “A good relationship meant that…” in the past?

Yes, Gott samband þýðir að... is a general, present‑tense definition:

A good relationship means that we plan weekends and holidays together.

To talk about the past, you change þýðir to past tense þýddi:

Gott samband þýddi að við skipulögðum helgar og frídaga saman.
– A good relationship meant that we planned weekends and holidays together.

Notice two past forms:

þýddi – past of þýða (meant)
skipulögðum – past 1st person plural of skipuleggja

Why isn’t there a word like “is” in the Icelandic sentence, like “Gott samband er að…”?

In English you often say:

A good relationship is when / is…

Icelandic frequently uses the verb þýða (to mean) instead:

Gott samband þýðir að...
literally: A good relationship means that...

You could say Gott samband er að við skipuleggjum..., but:

Gott samband þýðir að... sounds more natural as a definition.
Using þýða for this kind of “definition sentence” is very idiomatic.

So Icelandic prefers a structure with “means that” where English might use “is when / is that”.

Are there more informal or alternative ways to say this idea in Icelandic?

Yes, some natural variations include:

Gott samband er þegar við skipuleggjum helgar og frídaga saman.
– A good relationship is when we plan weekends and holidays together.
Í góðu sambandi skipuleggjum við helgar og frídaga saman.
– In a good relationship, we plan weekends and holidays together.
Að eiga gott samband þýðir að við skipuleggjum helgar og frídaga saman.
– Having a good relationship means that we plan weekends and holidays together.

The original sentence is already quite natural; these are just stylistic alternatives that express the same idea with slightly different emphasis.