Kennarinn kennir okkur stafrófið.

-inn is the definite article attached to the noun. Icelandic usually puts the at the end of the word instead of using a separate word like English.

• kennari = teacher
• kennarinn = the teacher

So kennarinn means the teacher.

Kenna is the dictionary form of the verb, meaning to teach.
In the sentence, the subject is kennarinn = the teacher, which is third person singular, so the present tense form is:

• ég kenni = I teach
• þú kennir = you teach
• hann/hún/það kennir = he/she/it teaches

So kennir means teaches.

Because kenna does not take the person being taught in the same form English does. In Icelandic, kenna typically takes:

• the person being taught in the dative
• the thing being taught in the accusative

The pronoun við means we, but okkur is the dative/accusative plural form meaning us, depending on context. Here it is specifically dative because the verb requires it.

So:

• við = we
• okkur = us

In this sentence, okkur is correct because kenna einhverjum eitthvað means to teach someone something.

Just like kennarinn, this is the noun with the definite article attached.

• stafróf = alphabet
• stafrófið = the alphabet

The ending is different because stafróf is a neuter noun, and neuter nouns often take -ið as the attached definite article in the singular nominative/accusative.

So stafrófið means the alphabet.

Because kenna often works like teach someone something in English.

In Kennarinn kennir okkur stafrófið:

• okkur = the person receiving the teaching
• stafrófið = the thing being taught

Grammatically:

• okkur is dative
• stafrófið is accusative

This pattern is very common with kenna:

• kenna einhverjum eitthvað = teach someone something

The subject is kennarinn because it is the one doing the action of teaching.

A good way to see it:

• kennarinn = the teacher → does the teaching
• kennir = teaches
• okkur = us → receives the teaching
• stafrófið = the alphabet → what is being taught

So the structure is basically:

The teacher + teaches + us + the alphabet

Yes, Icelandic word order is more flexible than English because case endings help show each word’s role.

The neutral, straightforward order here is:

Kennarinn kennir okkur stafrófið.

But other orders may be possible in context, especially for emphasis. For example, Icelandic often puts something else first for focus, while the verb still usually stays in second position in main clauses.

However, for learners, the safest choice is to keep the standard order until you are comfortable with Icelandic sentence structure.

Yes. They are closely related.

• kenna = to teach
• kennari = teacher

The noun kennari is formed from the verb and means a person who teaches. This is a useful pattern to notice in Icelandic vocabulary: many nouns are related to verbs.

Use the form without the attached article when you mean a/an or when you are speaking more generally.

Examples:

• kennari = a teacher / teacher

• kennarinn = the teacher

• stafróf = an alphabet / alphabet
• stafrófið = the alphabet

So if you were talking about a teacher in general, you might use kennari. If you mean a specific teacher already known in the conversation, you use kennarinn.

In Icelandic, the main stress is usually on the first syllable of each word.

So you would stress roughly:

• KENN-ar-inn
• KENN-ir
• OKK-ur
• STAF-róf-ið

A rough English-style approximation might be:

KENN-ar-inn KENN-ir OKK-ur STAF-roh-fith

A few notes:

• nn in kennarinn has an Icelandic pronunciation that does not sound exactly like English nn
• þ is not in this sentence, but ð is also not here; learners often expect unusual letters, but this sentence uses ordinary Latin letters only
• ó is a long vowel, roughly like o in go, though not exactly the same

The most important pronunciation habit for beginners is: stress the first syllable.

Because kenna does not usually take both objects in the same case. The verb has a fixed pattern:

• someone = dative
• something = accusative

So:

• okkur is dative because it means to us
• stafrófið is accusative because it is the thing being taught

This is something English speakers often have to memorize, because English does not show these case differences clearly in nouns. In Icelandic, the verb often determines which case follows.