Við þekkjum kennarann vel.

Við means we. It is the subject of the sentence — the people doing the action of knowing.

So in Við þekkjum kennarann vel, við tells us who knows the teacher.

Þekkja is the dictionary form (the infinitive), meaning to know or to be acquainted with.

Þekkjum is the form used with við (we) in the present tense:

• ég þekki — I know
• þú þekkir — you know
• hann/hún/það þekkir — he/she/it knows
• við þekkjum — we know
• þið þekkið — you all know
• þeir/þær/þau þekkja — they know

So þekkjum means we know.

Not quite. Icelandic often distinguishes between different kinds of knowing.

Þekkja is used for:

• knowing a person
• being familiar with someone or something
• recognizing

So Við þekkjum kennarann means We know the teacher in the sense of being acquainted with the teacher.

By contrast, vita is used more for:

• knowing a fact
• knowing that something is true

For example:

• Ég þekki kennarann. — I know the teacher.
• Ég veit svarið. — I know the answer.

That is a very important distinction for English speakers.

Kennari means teacher in the basic dictionary form.

Kennarann means the teacher and also shows that the noun is in the accusative singular.

This happens because þekkja takes a direct object, and that object goes into the accusative case.

So:

• kennari — teacher
• kennarinn — the teacher (subject form / nominative)
• kennarann — the teacher (object form / accusative)

In this sentence, the teacher is the person being known, so Icelandic uses kennarann.

Because Icelandic uses cases much more than English does.

English usually shows the role of a word mostly by word order:

• We know the teacher

Icelandic uses both word order and case endings. The ending on kennarann helps show that it is the object of the verb.

That is why the noun changes form depending on its role in the sentence.

In kennarann, the ending reflects two things at once:

1. definiteness — it means the teacher, not just a teacher
2. accusative singular masculine — the form needed after this verb

A useful way to think of it is:

• kennari — teacher
• kennarinn — the teacher
• kennarann — the teacher (as a direct object)

So the noun ending is carrying grammatical information that English usually does not show directly.

Vel means well. It is an adverb, and it describes how well we know the teacher.

So:

• Við þekkjum kennarann. — We know the teacher.
• Við þekkjum kennarann vel. — We know the teacher well.

It adds extra information about the degree or quality of the knowing/familiarity.

In this sentence, vel comes after the object:

• Við þekkjum kennarann vel.

That is a very natural word order in Icelandic.

English speakers may want to compare:

• We know the teacher well.

Icelandic word order is often fairly flexible, but not all versions sound equally natural in all contexts. The sentence given is the normal, straightforward order:

• subject + verb + object + adverb

So for learners, this is a good pattern to copy.

Yes. Þekkjum is the present tense form for we.

So the sentence means:

• We know the teacher well or
• We are well acquainted with the teacher

It does not mean we knew or we have known, unless context leads English to translate it that way more naturally.

The letter þ is pronounced like the th in English thing, not like the th in this.

So þekkjum begins with a voiceless th sound.

A rough pronunciation guide for English speakers would be something like:

• THEHK-yum

That is only approximate, but it helps.

In Icelandic, the definite article (the) is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So instead of saying something like the teacher with a separate word before the noun, Icelandic often uses an ending:

• kennari — teacher
• kennarinn / kennarann — the teacher

This is very common in Icelandic and is one of the first things English speakers have to get used to.

Yes — and that is actually the more likely meaning.

Because the verb is þekkja, the sentence usually suggests familiarity or acquaintance, not merely awareness.

So Við þekkjum kennarann vel usually means something like:

• We know the teacher well
• We are well acquainted with the teacher

It normally sounds more personal than simply knowing of someone's existence.

Usually, Icelandic keeps the subject pronoun, especially in a simple sentence like this.

So:

• Við þekkjum kennarann vel. — normal and clear

Because verb endings do carry information, the meaning might sometimes still be understandable without the pronoun in certain contexts, but learners should normally include við.

So for standard usage, keep it:

• Við þekkjum ... — We know ...