Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Samband okkar er sterkt, þó að við búum í mismunandi löndum. - Our relationship is strong, even though we live in different countries.

samband okkar = our relationship / the relationship of us
okkar samband is possible but sounds marked or special in most contexts (often used for emphasis or contrast).

So the neutral, everyday way to say our relationship is samband okkar. The noun itself carries the main stress, the possessive follows it.

What exactly does “Samband” mean here? Is it only “relationship”?

Samband is quite broad and can mean:

relationship (romantic or not)
connection / contact (between people, places, ideas, devices)
link / relation in a more abstract sense

In this sentence it’s most naturally understood as relationship (between people), but context could also make it something like our connection or our bond.

Why is “sterkt” neuter? Shouldn’t an adjective agree with the people (we) somehow?

The adjective agrees with the grammatical gender of the noun it describes, not with the people it’s semantically about.

samband is a neuter noun (n.).
So the adjective sterkur (strong) must appear in neuter singular nominative: sterkt.

Pattern (nominative singular):

masculine: sterkur maður – strong man
feminine: sterk kona – strong woman
neuter: sterkt samband – strong relationship

So Samband okkar er sterkt literally: Our relationship is strong-it (neuter).

What’s the difference between “við” and “okkar” in this sentence?

They’re two different cases of the same pronoun:

við = we (nominative, subject form)
okkar = our / of us (genitive form)

In the sentence:

við is the subject of the verb búum (we live).
okkar shows possession of samband (relationship of us).

Roughly:

Samband okkar – relationship of us → our relationship
við búum – we live

What does “þó að” mean, and is it different from just “þótt”?

þó að is a conjunction meaning although / even though.

þó = though
að = that (when used as a conjunction marker)

You can often replace þó að with þótt; both are common:

Samband okkar er sterkt, þó að við búum í mismunandi löndum.
Samband okkar er sterkt, þótt við búum í mismunandi löndum.

In everyday speech and writing, they’re basically interchangeable here. Both introduce a subordinate clause that expresses contrast.

Does “þó að” require the subjunctive? Is “búum” indicative or subjunctive?

Traditionally, þó að / þótt often take the subjunctive, especially when the situation is hypothetical or contrary to expectation.

For búa (to live):

Present indicative:
- ég bý, þú býrð, hann býr, við búum, þið búið, þeir búa
Present subjunctive:
- ég búi, þú búir, hann búi, við búum, þið búið, þeir búi

For 1st person plural, the form búum is the same in both indicative and subjunctive. So in this exact sentence you cannot see the mood difference on the surface.

Grammatically, after þó að, this is understood as subjunctive; but the form búum looks identical to the indicative in this person/number.

Why is it “við búum í mismunandi löndum” and not “búum við…” like in many Icelandic clauses?

Icelandic has a verb-second (V2) rule in main clauses, but not in the same way in subordinate clauses.

In main clauses, the finite verb usually comes second:
- Við búum í Reykjavík. – We live in Reykjavík.
- Í Reykjavík búum við. – In Reykjavík we live.
In subordinate clauses (introduced by þó að, að, ef, etc.), the order is normally:
- conjunction + subject + verb
- þó að við búum í mismunandi löndum

So the order “þó að við búum …” is the standard subclause order, not “þó að búum við …”.

Why is “löndum” in the dative plural, and how does “land” → “löndum” work?

The preposition í (in) can take dative when it expresses location (where something is), and accusative when it expresses motion into (where something goes).

Here it’s location: live *in different countries, so *í takes dative.

The noun land (country / land) is neuter and declines like this (simplified):

Singular:
- nominative: land
- accusative: land
- dative: landi
- genitive: lands
Plural:
- nominative: lönd
- accusative: lönd
- dative: löndum
- genitive: landa

So after í (location), you get í löndum; with mismunandi in front:

í mismunandi löndum – in different countries

Why doesn’t “mismunandi” change form to agree with “löndum”?

mismunandi (different) is one of the adjectives that are indeclinable: its form does not change for gender, number, or case.

So:

mismunandi land – a different country
mismunandi lönd – different countries
í mismunandi löndum – in different countries
um mismunandi fólk – about different people

In all these, mismunandi stays the same.

Why is there a comma before “þó að” in Icelandic? English often omits it.

Icelandic punctuation is generally stricter about marking subordinate clauses with a comma.

A clause introduced by þó að / þótt is a subordinate (dependent) clause.
It’s very common (and often preferred) to put a comma before it:
- Samband okkar er sterkt, þó að við búum í mismunandi löndum.

In English, “Our relationship is strong although we live in different countries” might or might not have a comma; in Icelandic, the comma is much more expected in writing.

Do you need a definite article like “sambandið okkar” to say “our relationship”?

No. A noun with a possessive pronoun (like okkar, our) is already perceived as definite.

samband okkar = our relationship (normal form)
sambandið okkar would literally be the relationship of ours and sounds more marked/emphatic or context-specific.

So in most cases, samband okkar is exactly what you want for our relationship.

How do you pronounce the tricky sounds, especially “þó að” and “löndum”?

Approximate English-based guidance:

þó – [θou]
- þ like th in think
- ó like a long o in go
að – [að]
- a like a in father
- ð is a soft, voiced th (like this), but often very weak or almost silent between vowels / at word end.
löndum – roughly [lœn-dum]
- ö is like the vowel in French peur or German schön (fronted, rounded)
- nd is pronounced as in English land
- u here is short, like u in put, not cup
- Final m is clear.

Very rough English approximations (not precise, just to get close):

þó að ≈ “thoh ath” (with soft *th*s)
löndum ≈ “lund-um” but with the vowel in lœ- more like German schön than English lund-.