Við verðum að virða tímann hennar, og virðing skiptir jafn miklu máli og kurteisi.

That is a very common question.

On its own, verða often means become:

• Hann verður þreyttur = He becomes tired

But the pattern verða að + infinitive is a fixed expression meaning must / have to:

• Við verðum að fara = We must leave
• Ég verð að læra = I have to study

So in your sentence:

• Við verðum að virða... = We must respect...

Here, verðum is the present tense, 1st person plural form of verða:

• ég verð
• við verðum

So við verðum að = we must / we have to.

Because að is the normal infinitive marker in Icelandic, similar to English to in to respect.

So:

• virða = respect
• að virða = to respect

After verða að, Icelandic uses the infinitive:

• verðum að virða = must respect

Even though English often drops to after must, Icelandic keeps að in this construction.

They come from the same root, but they are different parts of speech:

• virða = to respect (verb)
• virðing = respect (noun)

So the sentence uses both:

• að virða tímann hennar = to respect her time
• virðing skiptir... máli = respect matters...

English does the same thing:

• to respect
• respect

Icelandic just happens to show the relationship very clearly in the word forms.

Because tímann is the accusative singular definite form of tími.

The verb virða takes a direct object, and direct objects are often in the accusative case. Here, time is what is being respected, so it must be in the accusative.

Forms of tími:

• tími = time, the nominative form
• tímann = the time, accusative singular

So:

• virða tímann hennar = respect her time

Also note that Icelandic commonly uses the definite article with a following possessive:

• tímann hennar = literally something like the time of hers
• natural English: her time

So even though English says her time without the, Icelandic normally says the time her.

Because that is the normal Icelandic way to express possession in many cases, especially with pronouns.

So instead of putting the possessive before the noun the way English does, Icelandic often uses:

• noun + article + possessive

Examples:

• bíllinn minn = my car
• húsið okkar = our house
• tímann hennar = her time

So tímann hennar is perfectly normal Icelandic word order.

Also, hennar is a genitive form, because possession is typically expressed with the genitive.

It can do both depending on context, but here it clearly means the possessive her.

In this sentence:

• tímann hennar = her time

You may also see hennar used more independently in other contexts, where English might translate it as hers. But when it directly follows a noun, it usually works like a possessive determiner:

• bókin hennar = her book

So here, think of hennar simply as her.

Skipta máli is an idiomatic expression meaning:

• matter
• be important
• make a difference

So:

• virðing skiptir máli = respect matters

Even though skipta by itself often means divide, separate, or change, the full expression skipta máli has its own established meaning.

You should learn skipta máli as a chunk.

Useful examples:

• Það skiptir máli = It matters
• Þetta skiptir miklu máli = This matters a lot
• Það skiptir engu máli = It does not matter / It makes no difference

Because máli is in the dative singular, and miklu agrees with it.

In the expression skipta máli, the noun appears as:

• máli = dative singular of mál

So when you add mikill to describe the degree, it also appears in the dative singular neuter:

• miklu máli = of great importance / by much

That gives:

• skiptir miklu máli = matters a lot

Then with jafn ... og:

• skiptir jafn miklu máli og... = matters just as much as...

So miklu is not random; it matches máli grammatically.

It works like English as ... as.

So:

• jafn ... og = as ... as

In the sentence:

• virðing skiptir jafn miklu máli og kurteisi

this means:

• respect matters just as much as courtesy

You can think of it as:

• jafn miklu máli og = just as much as

This is a very useful comparison pattern in Icelandic:

• Hann er jafn hár og ég = He is as tall as I am
• Þetta er jafn mikilvægt og hitt = This is as important as that

It could be repeated, but Icelandic often leaves it out when it is understood.

So:

• virðing skiptir jafn miklu máli og kurteisi means essentially:
• virðing skiptir jafn miklu máli og kurteisi skiptir máli

English does the same kind of thing:

• Respect matters just as much as courtesy instead of
• Respect matters just as much as courtesy matters

So the second skiptir máli is simply omitted because it would be repetitive.

Kurteisi means courtesy, politeness, or good manners, depending on context.

In this sentence, courtesy is probably the best match:

• virðing ... og kurteisi = respect ... and courtesy

It is being used in a general, abstract sense, so Icelandic does not need the definite article here.

Because og can appear in two different roles here.

First:

• ..., og virðing...
• this og means and, joining two clauses

Second:

• jafn miklu máli og kurteisi
• here og is part of the comparison pattern jafn ... og
• that corresponds to English as ... as

So the two og words are the same form, but they are doing different jobs in the sentence.

Usually ð is like the th in this, not the th in thing.

So roughly:

• við ≈ vith with a soft voiced th
• verðum ≈ VER-thum
• virða ≈ VIR-tha
• virðing ≈ VIR-thing with a voiced th sound before the next consonant

A couple of important notes:

• At the end of a word, ð can be very soft
• In fast speech, it may sound weaker than an English th
• Icelandic pronunciation is often more about sound patterns than spelling letter-by-letter

So for a learner, saying a soft voiced th is a good starting point.