Breakdown of Við höfum sama smekkinn, er það ekki?
vera
to be
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
ekki
not
við
we
hafa
to have
sami
the same (masculine, sister forms: sama, sömu)
smekkurinn
the taste
Questions & Answers about Við höfum sama smekkinn, er það ekki?
Why does smekkinn have the definite article attached when sama is already describing it?
This is a key rule for the identity determiner sami (the same). When you use sami, the noun that follows it usually must take the attached definite article. That is why we say sama smekkinn (literally "same the-taste") rather than just sama smekk.
Why is it sama here instead of the base form sami?
The word sami behaves like a weak adjective. Since the verb hafa (to have) requires its object to be in the accusative case, we need the accusative masculine weak form of sami. For masculine words, the nominative is sami, but the accusative changes to sama.
What happened to the -ur ending in the noun smekkinn?
The dictionary form is smekkur (taste), which is a strong masculine noun. Because it is the direct object of hafa, it must be in the accusative case. The accusative form drops the -ur ending to become smekk. Finally, the accusative definite article -inn is attached to make it smekkinn.
In English we would say "don't we?" here. Why does the Icelandic sentence use er það ekki? instead of matching the verb höfum?
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