Við skoðum ástandið saman.

Við means we. It is the subject of the sentence.

In modern Icelandic, subject pronouns like ég, þú, við are usually stated, so við skoðum is the normal way to say we look at / we examine.

Skoðum is the present tense, 1st person plural form of the verb skoða.

• skoða = to look at, examine, inspect
• við skoðum = we look at / we examine

The ending -um is the normal present-tense ending for we with many verbs.

It can mean either, depending on context. Skoða is often broader than simple visual looking.

It can mean things like:

• look at
• examine
• inspect
• check
• review

So in a sentence like this, it often has the sense of looking into the situation or examining the situation rather than just glancing at it.

Because Icelandic skoða normally takes a direct object.

English says:

• look at the situation

But Icelandic says:

• skoða ástandið

So there is no separate word corresponding to English at here.

Because ástandið is the definite form: the situation / the state / the condition.

• ástand = a situation, a state, a condition
• ástandið = the situation, the state, the condition

Icelandic usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

Here ástandið is in the accusative singular, because it is the direct object of skoðum.

A useful detail: ástand is a neuter noun, and for many neuter nouns the nominative and accusative singular look the same. So even though this is accusative, the form does not visibly change from what you would also see in the nominative definite singular.

Saman means together.

It is an adverb, and it tells you how the action is done:

• Við skoðum ástandið saman.
• We examine the situation together.

That is a very natural position for it. The sentence has a straightforward order:

• Við = subject
• skoðum = verb
• ástandið = object
• saman = adverb

So the sentence follows a very common pattern: subject + verb + object + adverb.

Yes, but the version you have is the most neutral one.

Icelandic main clauses follow a verb-second pattern, which means the finite verb usually stays in the second position. So you can move things around for emphasis, but the verb still tends to remain second.

For example, more marked versions could be:

• Saman skoðum við ástandið.
• Ástandið skoðum við saman.

These are possible, but Við skoðum ástandið saman is the plain, neutral order.

Because Icelandic simple present often covers situations where English might use either the simple present or the present progressive.

So Við skoðum ástandið saman can work naturally in contexts where English might say:

• We examine the situation together
• We are examining the situation together

If you want to strongly emphasize an ongoing action, Icelandic can also use vera að + infinitive, for example:

• Við erum að skoða ástandið saman.

But the simple present is completely normal.

Yes, but that would usually change the feel of the sentence.

• Við skoðum ástandið saman = We examine the situation together
• Skoðum ástandið saman = more like Let’s examine the situation together

So if you remove við, it often sounds like a suggestion, invitation, or instruction rather than a plain statement.

Not always. Ástand is a flexible noun and can mean:

• state
• condition
• situation

The best English choice depends on context. In this sentence, situation is often the most natural translation, but in other contexts condition or state might fit better.