Við tökum enga ákvörðun fyrr en við höfum lesið samninginn.

Because ákvörðun is a feminine singular noun, and here it is the direct object of tökum, so it must be in the accusative singular.

The word enginn (no / none / not any) changes form to match the gender, number, and case of the noun:

• masculine accusative singular: engan
• feminine accusative singular: enga
• neuter accusative singular: ekkert

So:

• ákvörðun = a decision
• enga ákvörðun = no decision / any decision

In other words, enga agrees with ákvörðun.

Because enga already makes the clause negative.

So:

• Við tökum ákvörðun = We make/take a decision
• Við tökum enga ákvörðun = We make no decision / We do not make any decision

English often uses not plus any, but Icelandic can express the negation directly with enginn and its forms, such as enga here.

So the sentence does not need ekki, because the negative meaning is already built into enga ákvörðun.

Yes, tökum is from the verb taka, which very often means take.

But Icelandic uses the expression taka ákvörðun, which is the normal way to say make a decision or take a decision.

So literally:

• Við tökum enga ákvörðun = We take no decision

But natural English is usually:

• We won’t make any decision
• We won’t make a decision

This is just a difference in idiom: Icelandic says take a decision, while English more often says make a decision.

Because Icelandic often uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially when the meaning is clear from context.

So:

• Við tökum enga ákvörðun fyrr en ...

can naturally mean:

• We are not making any decision until ...
• We won’t make any decision until ...

Icelandic does have ways to express the future more explicitly, but very often the plain present tense is enough.

So the sentence is present in form, but future in meaning.

In this sentence, fyrr en means before literally, but in natural English the whole structure is usually translated as until.

So the Icelandic sentence is literally close to:

• We take no decision before we have read the contract

But natural English is:

• We won’t make any decision until we have read the contract

This is a very common pattern:

• negative main clause + fyrr en
  • subordinate clause

So learners often meet fyrr en in sentences that English translates with until.

Because the sentence is talking about a decision that will happen only after the reading is completed.

Compare the ideas:

• við lesum samninginn = we read / are reading the contract
• við höfum lesið samninginn = we have read the contract

The perfect form höfum lesið shows that the reading must be finished first.

So the logic is:

1. first, we read the contract completely
2. only then do we make a decision

That is why the perfect is used in the subordinate clause.

Lesið is the form used with hafa to make the perfect:

• hafa lesið = to have read
• við höfum lesið = we have read

Learners often think of it as the past participle, and that is a useful practical way to understand it. In traditional Icelandic grammar, the form used with hafa is often called the supine.

So for learning purposes, the important thing is:

• höfum = have
• lesið = read

Together:

• við höfum lesið = we have read

Because samninginn means the contract, and it is also in the accusative singular as the direct object of lesið.

Here are the key forms:

• samningur = contract (nominative singular)
• samning = contract (accusative singular, indefinite)
• samninginn = the contract (accusative singular, definite)

Icelandic usually adds the definite article as an ending on the noun:

• -inn here = the

So:

• lesið samning = read a contract
• lesið samninginn = read the contract

In this sentence, Icelandic normally keeps the subject við in both clauses:

• Við tökum ...
• ... fyrr en við höfum ...

Even though it is the same subject in both clauses, Icelandic does not normally drop subject pronouns the way some languages do.

So the repetition is normal and expected.

It also makes the structure very clear:

• main clause: Við tökum enga ákvörðun
• subordinate clause: fyrr en við höfum lesið samninginn

Yes, but this sentence follows a very normal pattern.

The structure is:

• Við tökum enga ákvörðun
  main clause
• fyrr en við höfum lesið samninginn
  subordinate clause

Inside the subordinate clause, the order is straightforward:

• við = subject
• höfum = finite verb
• lesið = non-finite verb form
• samninginn = object

So:

• við höfum lesið samninginn = we have read the contract

You could also move the subordinate clause to the front:

• Fyrr en við höfum lesið samninginn tökum við enga ákvörðun.

That is also grammatical, but the original version is probably the most neutral and natural for a learner to start with.

A very literal translation is:

• We take no decision before we have read the contract.

A more natural English translation is:

• We won’t make any decision until we have read the contract.

So the sentence combines several things that are slightly different from English:

• taka ákvörðun = make a decision
• present tense used with future meaning
• enga gives the negation
• fyrr en often comes out as until in English in this kind of sentence