Við göngum kringum húsið.

the house

Breakdown of Við göngum kringum húsið.

• við: we
• ganga: to walk
• kringum: around

Questions & Answers about Við göngum kringum húsið.

What does við mean here? I thought við could also mean with.

Here við means we.

That is a very common point of confusion, because við can also be a preposition in Icelandic, often meaning things like with, by, or against, depending on context.

In this sentence, it is clearly the pronoun we, because it comes before a plural verb:

• Við göngum = We walk / We are walking

So the structure tells you which við it is.

What is göngum, and what is its dictionary form?

Göngum is the 1st person plural present tense form of the verb að ganga.

So:

• að ganga = to walk
• við göngum = we walk / we are walking

A few present-tense forms of að ganga are:

• ég geng = I walk
• þú gengur = you walk
• við göngum = we walk
• þeir ganga = they walk

So göngum is the form that matches við.

Why is it göngum with ö, not gangum?