Ég samþykki ekki samninginn án þess að lesa hann.

Here it is a verb: samþykki = I accept / I approve.

More specifically, it is the 1st person singular present tense of samþykkja (to accept, approve).

This is worth noticing because samþykki can also be a noun meaning consent or approval in other contexts. In this sentence, though, it is clearly a verb because it follows Ég and takes an object: samninginn.

Because in a normal Icelandic main clause, the finite verb usually comes early in the sentence, and ekki typically follows it.

So:

• Ég samþykki ekki ...
• literally: I accept not ...

This is the normal Icelandic word order. English puts not differently, but Icelandic usually places ekki after the conjugated verb in sentences like this.

Because samninginn is the direct object of samþykki.

The base word is:

• samningur = contract, agreement

But here the sentence means the contract, and it is the thing being accepted, so it must be in the accusative singular definite form:

• samninginn = the contract (as object)

This ending shows two things at once:

• -inn = the suffixed definite article (the)
• the whole form is in the accusative singular

So Icelandic does not use a separate word for the here; it adds it to the noun.

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article onto the noun itself.

So instead of saying something like the contract with a separate article, Icelandic says:

• samningurinn = the contract (subject form)
• samninginn = the contract (object form here)

That is why you do not see a separate word corresponding to English the.

Án þess að is a very common Icelandic expression meaning without when it is followed by a verb phrase or clause.

In this sentence:

• án þess að lesa hann = without reading it

You can think of án þess að as a fixed unit. English uses without + -ing, but Icelandic often uses án þess að + infinitive/clause.

So this is the natural Icelandic way to say without reading it.

Because án is a preposition that takes the genitive case.

The pronoun það changes form in the genitive:

• það → þess

So:

• án þess að

contains þess because the preposition án requires it.

Even though learners often memorize án þess að as a whole expression, the form þess is still grammatically motivated by the genitive.

Because after án þess að, Icelandic can use an infinitive when the subject is understood to be the same as in the main clause.

Here the subject of both actions is Ég:

• Ég samþykki ekki ...
• ... án þess að lesa hann

So the person who does the reading is the same person who does the accepting. Because of that, Icelandic can leave the subject unspoken and use the infinitive lesa (to read).

This is similar to English without reading it.

Yes, that is possible.

That version makes the subject explicit:

• án þess að ég lesi hann

Here lesi is a conjugated subjunctive form. This fuller structure is especially useful when:

• you want to emphasize the subject, or
• the subject is different from the subject of the main clause

For example:

• Ég samþykki ekki samninginn án þess að lögfræðingurinn minn lesi hann fyrst.
• I won’t accept the contract without my lawyer reading it first.

So the version with lesa is shorter and natural when the subject stays the same, while the version with lesi is fuller and often used when a separate subject is stated.

Because samningur is a masculine noun, and Icelandic pronouns usually match the grammatical gender of the noun they refer to.

So:

• samningur = masculine
• therefore the pronoun is hann in the accusative context here

In English, contract is referred to as it, but Icelandic follows grammatical gender more closely. So even though English uses it, Icelandic uses hann because the noun is masculine.

Here hann means it in natural English translation, even though the Icelandic form is grammatically masculine.

It is accusative singular masculine.

Why? Because hann is the object of lesa:

• lesa hann = read it

Since samninginn is masculine singular, the pronoun referring back to it must match:

• masculine
• singular
• accusative, because it is the direct object of lesa

Not exactly.

English says:

• I do not accept the contract without reading it

Icelandic structures it more like:

• I accept not the-contract without that to read it

Of course, that is only a rough literal breakdown, but it helps show some important differences:

• Icelandic puts ekki after the finite verb
• Icelandic uses a suffixed article on samninginn
• Icelandic uses án þess að where English uses without
• Icelandic uses a gendered pronoun hann for samningurinn

So the overall meaning is straightforward, but the grammar is very Icelandic.