Við göngum niður að höfninni á morgun.

Við means we. It is the subject of the sentence, so it tells you who is doing the action.

In this sentence:

• Við = we
• göngum = walk / are walking
• so Við göngum = We walk / We are walking

Unlike English, Icelandic verbs change form depending on the subject, so göngum specifically matches við.

Göngum is the 1st person plural form of the verb að ganga, which usually means to walk.

So:

• að ganga = to walk
• ég geng = I walk
• við göngum = we walk

Depending on context, Við göngum niður að höfninni á morgun can be understood as:

• We walk down to the harbor tomorrow
• We’re walking down to the harbor tomorrow
• sometimes even We will walk down to the harbor tomorrow

Icelandic often uses the present tense for planned future events when a time expression like á morgun is present.

This is very common in Icelandic. The present tense is often used to talk about the future when the time is clear from context.

Here, á morgun means tomorrow, so the future meaning is obvious.

So Við göngum ... á morgun literally looks like We walk ... tomorrow, but natural English is usually:

• We’re walking ... tomorrow
• or We will walk ... tomorrow

This is similar to English sentences like We leave tomorrow.

Niður að means something like down to.

It is made of:

• niður = down
• að = to, toward

Together they describe movement in the direction of a place, often lower down geographically or just conceived as down toward something.

So:

• niður að höfninni = down to the harbor

You will often see similar combinations in Icelandic, where an adverb of direction and a preposition work together.

Because the preposition að normally takes the dative case in Icelandic.

The basic noun is:

• höfn = harbor, port

After að, it must be in the dative:

• höfn → höfninni

So:

• að höfninni = to the harbor

The ending -inni here shows both:

1. dative case
2. definite article = the

That is why Icelandic uses one word where English uses two: höfninni = the harbor in the required case.

Höfninni comes from the noun höfn meaning harbor.

It breaks down like this:

• höfn = harbor
• höfnin = the harbor
• höfninni = to the harbor / at the harbor, depending on context

In this sentence, it is dative singular definite.

A useful thing to notice is that Icelandic usually adds the as a suffix to the noun instead of using a separate word like English does.

So:

• höfn = harbor
• höfnin = the harbor
• að höfninni = to the harbor

Á morgun means tomorrow.

Literally:

• á = on
• morgun = morning / tomorrow in this expression

But you should learn á morgun as a fixed expression meaning tomorrow.

So even though it looks more word-for-word than English, the whole phrase simply functions as a time expression:

• á morgun = tomorrow

Compare:

• í dag = today
• í gær = yesterday
• á morgun = tomorrow

Yes, á morgun can come earlier. Icelandic word order is flexible, although some orders sound more natural in certain contexts.

The sentence as given is a neutral, natural order:

• Við göngum niður að höfninni á morgun.
• We’re walking down to the harbor tomorrow.

You could also say:

• Á morgun göngum við niður að höfninni.

That version puts more emphasis on tomorrow.

One thing to remember is that Icelandic often follows a verb-second pattern in main clauses. If you move á morgun to the front, the verb usually comes next:

• Á morgun göngum við ... not
• Á morgun við göngum ...

In this sentence, að ganga clearly means to walk.

But ganga is a very common Icelandic verb and can have several meanings depending on context. For example, it can also be used in expressions related to:

• functioning
• proceeding
• happening
• going

Still, for a learner, the main meaning to remember here is simple:

• Við göngum = We walk / We are walking

Since the sentence includes a destination, niður að höfninni, the meaning walk is the natural one.

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation might be:

Vith GUNG-um NITH-ur ath HUPN-inni ow MOR-gun

A few notes:

• ð is often like the th in this
• gö in göngum does not sound like English go
• höfn has a rounded vowel not found in English
• ll, nn, and other consonants in Icelandic often behave differently from English spelling expectations

If you are learning pronunciation, it is best to listen to native audio, because Icelandic spelling is regular but the sounds are not always obvious to English speakers.

Yes, in natural English that can be a good translation in some contexts, especially if you want smoother everyday English.

However, the Icelandic verb here is specifically að ganga, which means to walk, not just to go in a general sense.

So the most literal meaning is:

• We are walking down to the harbor tomorrow

But if the fact that they are moving there matters more than the manner of movement, an English translation like We’re going down to the harbor tomorrow may sound natural too. Still, it loses the specific idea of going on foot.

Then you would remove the definite article from the noun.

Current sentence:

• að höfninni = to the harbor

Indefinite version:

• að höfn = to a harbor / to harbor in a very literal sense

So the full sentence would be:

• Við göngum niður að höfn á morgun.

That said, in real usage, the harbor is often more natural because a harbor is usually a specific known place in the town or area.

Here við is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

So:

• við = we as the subject

Icelandic pronouns change by case, just like nouns do. In this sentence, the subject is doing the action, so nominative is required.

Meanwhile, höfninni is in the dative because it follows að. So the sentence shows two different grammatical roles:

• við = nominative subject
• höfninni = dative object of the preposition að