Við komum í veg fyrir vinnuslys.

We prevent workplace accidents.

Breakdown of Við komum í veg fyrir vinnuslys.

• við: we
• vinnuslysið: the workplace accident
• koma í veg fyrir: to prevent

Questions & Answers about Við komum í veg fyrir vinnuslys.

Is Við here the pronoun we, or could it mean something else?

Here it is the pronoun we.

That is worth asking because við can also be a preposition in Icelandic, often meaning against, with, or by, depending on context. In this sentence, though, it is clearly the subject pronoun because it comes before the verb komum:

• Við komum ... = We ...

So grammatically this starts like a normal subject + verb sentence.

What form is komum?

Komum is the 1st person plural form of koma.

So:

• ég kem = I come
• við komum = we come

In this sentence, the verb is part of the expression koma í veg fyrir, so you should not read it as simple physical come.

A very important detail: komum can also be the past tense 1st person plural form of koma. So by itself, við komum can mean either:

• we come
• we came

Only context tells you which one is meant.

If komum can be present or past, how do I know which one it is here?