Við útdeilum spilunum.

Here við means we.

A useful thing to know is that við can also be a preposition in other sentences, but in Við útdeilum spilunum it is clearly the subject pronoun we.

Útdeilum is the 1st person plural present tense form of the verb útdeila.

So:

• útdeila = the dictionary form, to deal out / distribute
• við útdeilum = we deal out / we are dealing out

The ending -um is what marks we on the verb here.

Usually, yes.

Icelandic is not a language that normally drops subject pronouns the way Spanish or Italian often do. Even though útdeilum already shows 1st person plural, a normal declarative sentence usually still includes við.

So the neutral form is:

• Við útdeilum spilunum.

If you remove við, the result can sound incomplete, marked, or turn into a different structure depending on context.

Yes, you often can.

Icelandic has both:

• útdeila = a prefixed verb
• deila út = a verb plus particle

So alongside Við útdeilum spilunum, you may also hear:

• Við deilum út spilunum.

In many contexts these are very close in meaning. The one-word verb útdeila can sound a bit more formal or lexicalized, while deila út can feel more everyday, but both are perfectly normal patterns.

Because útdeila takes a dative object.

This is one of the important things English speakers have to get used to in Icelandic: not every direct object is accusative. Some verbs require dative, and útdeila is one of them.

So with this verb, you learn the pattern as:

• útdeila + dative

That is why you get spilunum, not an accusative form.

It is built into the end of the noun.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as a suffix instead of standing as a separate word. So spilunum already means the cards in the required case.

Very roughly:

• spilum = cards in dative plural
• spilunum = the cards in dative plural

So there is no separate word for the here.

It is plural.

The base noun is spil, which is a neuter noun. In this sentence, the ending shows that it is:

• dative
• plural
• definite

So spilunum means the cards, not the card.

They look similar, but they are doing completely different jobs.

• In útdeilum, -um is a verb ending meaning we in the present tense.
• In spilunum, the -um is part of the dative plural noun ending, and the full -unum includes the definite article.

So this is just a surface resemblance, not the same grammar twice.

Yes, depending on context.

The Icelandic present tense often covers meanings that English expresses with either:

• we deal out the cards
• we are dealing out the cards

If you want to emphasize that the action is happening right now, Icelandic can also use vera að:

• Við erum að deila út spilunum.

But the simple present sentence can already work if the context makes it clear.

Yes, but Icelandic usually follows the verb-second rule in main clauses.

The neutral order here is:

• Við útdeilum spilunum.
• subject + verb + object

If you put another element first, the verb still stays in second position:

• Núna útdeilum við spilunum. = Now we deal out the cards.

So the subject does not always have to come first, but the finite verb usually stays in second place in a normal main clause.