hata ("to hate") is a fully regular weak Class-1 verb — the -aði preterite, no strong-verb surprises — and yet it is the verb that finally forces you to use the u-umlaut you have read about, because its stem vowel is a. The moment an ending begins with -u-, that a rounds to ö: "we hate" is hötum, and the past plural is hötuðu. This is exactly the reflex that nota and elska dodge (their stems are o and e); hata is the verb that puts the rule to work. This page gives the full paradigm, the accusative object, the strong emotional register, and the clean mirror-image with its antonym elska ("love").
Conjugation
Class: weak, Class 1 (the -aði preterite). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef hatað "I have hated."
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að hata |
| 3sg present | hatar |
| 3sg past | hataði |
| 3pl past | hötuðu |
| Supine | hatað |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | hata | hataði |
| þú | hatar | hataðir |
| hann / hún / það | hatar | hataði |
| við | hötum | hötuðum |
| þið | hatið | hötuðuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | hata | hötuðu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | hati | hataði |
| þú | hatir | hataðir |
| hann / hún / það | hati | hataði |
| við | hötum | hötuðum |
| þið | hatið | hötuðuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | hati | hötuðu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | hataðu |
| Imperative (þið) | hatið! |
| Supine | hatað |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | hataður / hötuð / hatað |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | hatast (við) — "to be at loggerheads, hate each other" |
Why the ö appears: u-umlaut on an a-stem
U-umlaut is a rule about the vowel a specifically: when a -u- follows in the next syllable, an a rounds to ö. hata has an a stem, so the reflex fires in exactly the forms whose ending carries a -u-: the present við form hötum, and the whole past plural hötuðum, hötuðuð, hötuðu. Everywhere else the a stays put (hata, hatar, hataði, hatið). English has no spelling reflex of this kind, so the instinct is to leave the a alone throughout — and writing hatum or hatuðu is a real spelling error to a native eye, because the ö genuinely changes the vowel. Burn in the pair ég hata / við hötum.
Ég hata að vakna snemma á mánudögum.
I hate waking up early on Mondays.
Við hötum þessa auglýsingu — hún er alls staðar.
We hate this advert — it's everywhere.
Þau hötuðu hvert annað allt sitt líf.
They hated each other their whole lives.
hata + accusative
hata takes a plain accusative object — no preposition, just like English "hate something." The only thing to watch is the case ending on the noun: hata kuldann ("hate the cold," accusative), hata bíða is wrong because the object is a verb — for "hate to do," you use hata að + infinitive, which feels exactly like English.
Hann hatar kuldann og flytur suður á hverjum vetri.
He hates the cold and moves south every winter.
Af hverju hatarðu þennan þátt svona mikið?
Why do you hate this TV show so much?
Register: hata is strong
This is the point where most learners overshoot. English "hate" has gone soft — "I hate Mondays," "I hate cilantro," "don't you just hate it when…" In Icelandic, hata keeps more of its full weight: it is a genuinely strong, emotional word. You can absolutely say ég hata rauðkál ("I hate red cabbage") in casual speech, and people do, but applied to people it lands as real hatred, not mild dislike. For ordinary "I can't stand / I really dislike," Icelanders reach for softer phrasings — þola ekki ("can't stand," literally "not tolerate") or vera illa við ("be ill-disposed towards"). Reserve hata for when you mean it, or for the light, jokey "I hate X" about things.
Ég þoli ekki þennan hávaða lengur.
I can't stand this noise any longer. (þola ekki — softer than hata)
Mér er illa við að kvarta, en þetta gengur ekki.
I hate to complain, but this won't do. (vera illa við — softer register)
hata vs elska — opposite meanings, mirror-image vowels
The neat pairing: hata ("hate") and elska ("love") are antonyms and both weak Class-1, but their stem vowels make them behave differently in the umlaut. hata (a-stem) rounds — hötum, hötuðu; elska (e-stem) does not — elskum, elskuðu. Learning them as a pair fixes both the meaning contrast and the spelling contrast at once: love keeps its e, hate flips its a to ö.
Sumir elska þessa borg og aðrir hata hana.
Some love this city and others hate it.
Common Mistakes
❌ Við hatum sömu hluti.
Incorrect — hata is an a-stem, so the -u- ending triggers u-umlaut: hötum, not hatum.
✅ Við hötum sömu hluti.
We hate the same things.
❌ Þau hatuðu skólann.
Incorrect — the past plural rounds the a to ö: hötuðu, not hatuðu.
✅ Þau hötuðu skólann.
They hated school.
❌ Ég hata vinnufélaga minn (meaning: he mildly annoys me).
Misleading — about a person, hata reads as genuine hatred; for mild dislike use þola ekki.
✅ Ég þoli ekki vinnufélaga minn.
I can't stand my coworker.
❌ Hún hataður þennan mat.
Incorrect — hataður is the participle; the 3sg past is hataði.
✅ Hún hataði þennan mat.
She hated this food.
Key Takeaways
- hata / hatar / hataði / hatað — a fully regular weak Class-1 verb with an -aði past.
- U-umlaut fires because the stem is a: hötum ("we hate"), past plural hötuðum / hötuðuð / hötuðu, fem. participle hötuð. Never hatum / hatuðu.
- hata + accusative = "hate something"; hata að
- infinitive = "hate to do."
- Register: hata is genuinely strong about people — prefer þola ekki or vera illa við for ordinary dislike.
- Pair it with its antonym elska: hate (a-stem) rounds to ö, love (e-stem) does not.
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- elska (to love)A2 — Full conjugation of the weak Class-1 verb elska (elska / elskaði / elskuðu / elskað), with its accusative object (elska þig), the reflexive-possessive object (elska konuna sína), and the contrast with þykja vænt um 'be fond of'.
- u-Umlaut in Plurals and the Dative PluralA2 — The single most pervasive sound rule in Icelandic noun inflection: a stem 'a' rounds to 'ö' before a following 'u' — most reliably in the dative-plural ending -um (dögum, löndum) and in many bare plurals (barn → börn, land → lönd).
- The Weak Preterite: -aði, -di, -ði, -tiA2 — How to choose and form the weak past tense — Class-1 -a verbs take -aði (tala → talaði, plural töluðum), Class-2 verbs take the short dental -di/-ði/-ti picked by the preceding sound (reyndi, dæmdi, keypti) — with the full tala paradigm and the 'when in doubt, -aði' default for unknown verbs.