Questions & Answers about Við safnum peningum saman.
Because að safna (“to collect, gather”) takes the dative case for its object in Icelandic.
- The noun peningur (“coin; money”) in the plural dative is peningum.
- Many English learners expect the accusative plural (peninga) as the direct object, but some Icelandic verbs govern the dative instead.
Very roughly for the plural of peningur:
- Nominative: peningar – “(the) coins / money”
- Accusative: peninga
- Dative: peningum ← used after safna
- Genitive: peninga
So: að safna peningum is the normal, correct structure: “to collect money”.
The infinitive is að safna (“to collect, to gather, to accumulate”).
Present tense of að safna:
- ég safna – I collect
- þú safnar – you (sing.) collect
- hann / hún / það safnar – he / she / it collects
- við safnum – we collect ← in your sentence
- þið safnið – you (pl.) collect
- þeir / þær / þau safna – they collect
The -um ending is the regular 1st person plural ending in the present tense for weak verbs like safna.
Saman means “together”.
- Við safnum peningum – “We collect money / We’re collecting money.”
- Við safnum peningum saman – “We collect money together / We’re pooling money together.”
So saman:
- emphasizes that the action is joint or collective;
- often implies that everyone is chipping in or contributing to a common pot.
The sentence is grammatically fine without saman; it just loses that extra “together / jointly” nuance.
Yes, Við safnum saman peningum is also possible and grammatical.
Word order with adverbs like saman is fairly flexible:
- Við safnum peningum saman.
- Við safnum saman peningum.
Both are used. The version in your original sentence (…peningum saman) is probably the more common of the two, but both sound natural.
Icelandic usually uses the simple present for both:
- Við safnum peningum (saman).
= “We collect money” / “We are collecting money.”
If you really want to emphasize that something is happening right now, you can use the “vera að” construction:
- Við erum að safna peningum (saman).
Literally: “We are to collect money together” → “We are in the process of collecting money together.”
Both are correct; the plain simple present is already a good translation of English “are collecting”.
Because við is the nominative form, used for the subject of the sentence.
Personal pronoun for “we / us”:
- Nominative (subject): við – “we”
- Accusative / Dative (object): okkur – “us”
- Genitive: okkar – “our / of us”
In Við safnum peningum saman, “we” are the ones doing the action, so the subject must be við, not okkur.
When talking about money in general, Icelandic normally uses the plural:
- peningar = “money” (not literally “coins” only; it’s the standard word)
- peningur (singular) = “a coin / a unit of money” in a more literal sense
So:
- Ég á ekki peninga. – “I have no money.”
- Við erum að safna peningum. – “We are collecting money.”
Even though English treats “money” as uncountable, Icelandic uses the plural of peningur for that concept.
It can have that meaning, depending on context.
að safna can mean:
- to collect / gather (for a purpose: a charity, a gift, etc.)
- to accumulate / save up (e.g. money, stamps, points)
So:
- Við safnum peningum saman
can mean:- “We raise money together (for something).”
- “We save up money together (e.g. a couple saving for a trip).”
If you specifically want “save (put aside) money”, another common phrase is:
- að leggja fyrir (peninga) – to put money aside / save money.
Example: Við leggjum fyrir saman. – “We save (money) together.”
Approximate pronunciation (IPA-like, simplified):
Við – [vɪːð]
- v like English v
- ið like long i in “bit” but longer; ð is a soft th sound as in “this”
safnum – [ˈsapnʏm]
- stress on saf-
- a like “a” in “father” but shorter
- u in the ending is like a short, relaxed “oo/uh”
peningum – [ˈpʰeːniŋkʏm] (often with a little [k] sound before the final m)
- stress on pe-
- e long, like “eh” held slightly longer
- -ing- is like “ing” in “sing,” often with a slight k before um
saman – [ˈsaːman]
- stress on sa-
- a again like “a” in “father,” the first one long
Rhythmically: Við SAF-num PE-ning-um SA-man, with clear stress on the first syllable of each content word.
Yes. A few high‑frequency ones:
- hjálpa einhverjum – to help someone
- Ég hjálpa honum. – I help him. (honum = dative)
- trúa einhverjum – to believe someone
- Ég trúi þér. – I believe you. (þér = dative)
- kenna einhverjum eitthvað – to teach someone something
- Hún kennir börnunum ensku. – She teaches the children English. (börnunum = dative)
- líka við einhvern – to like someone
- Mér líkar við hana. – I like her. (mér = dative)
- lýsa einhverju – to describe something
- Geturðu lýst húsinu? – Can you describe the house? (húsinu = dative)
So að safna einhverju – “to collect something” – fits into this pattern of verbs that “govern” the dative.
Yes, but then the meaning changes: it becomes a command / suggestion, like English “Let’s collect money together.”
- Við safnum peningum saman. – “We (normally/now) collect money together.” (statement)
- Safnum peningum saman! – “Let’s collect money together!” (1st person plural imperative)
For a neutral statement about what’s happening or what you do, you normally keep við.