Breakdown of Við höfum kannað heiminn saman.
saman
together / on end (after a dative plural time noun)
við
we
hafa
to have
kanna
to explore
heimurinn
the world
Questions & Answers about Við höfum kannað heiminn saman.
How do we get the form kannað from the verb kanna?
Kannað is the supine (sagnbót) form. For Group 1 weak verbs like kanna (which end in "-ar" in the present tense), you form the supine simply by changing the final "-a" of the infinitive to "-að". You always use this form after the helping verb hafa.
Does the present perfect tense work the same way in Icelandic as it does in English here?
Yes! To talk about past experiences where the exact time isn't important, Icelandic uses the verb hafa (to have) plus the supine form of the main verb, just like English. Við höfum kannað translates directly and conceptually to "We have explored."
Why is the helping verb höfum instead of hafa?
The helping verb hafa has to be conjugated to match the subject. Because the subject is við (we), the correct form is höfum. The supine verb kannað stays exactly the same no matter who the subject is.
Why is "the world" written as heiminn instead of heimurinn?
Heimurinn is the nominative (subject) form. In this sentence, the world is the direct object receiving the action of being explored, so it takes the accusative case. The masculine noun heimur drops the "-ur" ending to become heim, and then we add the accusative definite article -inn to make heiminn.
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