Við erum í stofunni núna.

Here við means we.

A common beginner confusion is that við can also be a preposition meaning things like with, by, or at, depending on context. In this sentence, though, it is clearly the subject pronoun we, because it comes before the verb erum.

So:

• við erum = we are

Context tells you which við you are dealing with.

Erum is the 1st person plural present form of the verb vera, which means to be.

Since the subject is við = we, Icelandic uses the matching verb form:

• ég er = I am
• þú ert = you are
• hann/hún/það er = he/she/it is
• við erum = we are
• þið eruð = you are
• þeir/þær/þau eru = they are

So Við erum literally means We are.

Í usually means in.

So:

• í stofunni = in the living room / in the room

A very important grammar point is that í can be used with different cases depending on meaning:

• location = usually dative
• motion into something = usually accusative

In this sentence, the meaning is location, not movement, so í is followed by the dative form.

Because Icelandic nouns change form depending on case and definiteness.

The base noun is stofa. In this sentence it appears as stofunni because it is:

• singular
• definite = the living room / the room
• dative, because it follows í in a location meaning

So the chain is roughly:

• stofa = living room, room
• stofu = dative/accusative form of the noun without the
• stofunni = in the living room with the definite ending

This is one of the big differences from English: the noun itself changes shape.

Because Icelandic usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

So instead of having a separate word like English the, Icelandic often uses an ending.

Here:

• stofa = a living room / living room
• stofan = the living room
• stofunni = in the living room

That -unni part includes both case marking and the definite article.

So í stofunni already contains the idea of in the living room without needing a separate word for the.

Because í stofunni expresses being in a place, while í stofuna would normally suggest movement into the place.

Compare:

• Við erum í stofunni. = We are in the living room.
• Við förum í stofuna. = We are going into the living room.

So:

• dative after í = location
• accusative after í = motion/destination

This location-versus-motion distinction is very common in Icelandic prepositions.

Núna means now.

In this sentence it gives the time:

• Við erum í stofunni núna. = We are in the living room now.

Putting núna at the end is completely natural. Icelandic word order is somewhat flexible, and adverbs like this can often move around.

You may also hear:

• Núna erum við í stofunni.
• Við erum núna í stofunni.

All of these are possible, though they can sound slightly different in emphasis. The version with núna at the end is very ordinary and neutral.

Yes. Stofa often means living room, sitting room, or sometimes more generally room or parlor, depending on context.

So the exact English translation can vary a little.

For example:

• in a home, stofa is often living room
• in some formal or older contexts, it can mean a kind of room or hall

That is why you may sometimes see slightly different English translations for í stofunni.

Normally, Icelandic does include the subject pronoun, so Við erum í stofunni núna is the normal full sentence.

Even though erum already tells you it is we are, Icelandic is generally not a language that regularly drops subject pronouns in ordinary speech the way some other languages do.

So a learner should usually keep the pronoun:

• Við erum... = normal
• Erum... = possible only in special contexts, but not the standard full-sentence version to rely on as a beginner

A rough English-friendly approximation is:

vith EH-rum ee STOH-fun-ni NOO-na

A few helpful points:

• Við: the ð is like the th in this, not the th in thin
• í is a long ee sound
• stofunni has stress on the first syllable: STOH-fun-ni
• núna is roughly NOO-na

As in most Icelandic words, the main stress falls on the first syllable of each word.