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Het is jammer dat we geen tijd hebben.

Het is jammer dat we geen tijd hebben.
It is a pity that we have no time.
From Lesson 84:That clauses (dat)·Dutch

Questions & Answers about Het is jammer dat we geen tijd hebben.

Why is hebben at the very end of the sentence?
The word dat (that) introduces a dependent clause. In Dutch, dependent clauses use verb-final word order. This means the working verb (hebben) gets pushed to the very end of its clause.
Why does this sentence use geen instead of niet to say 'no time'?
In Dutch, geen is used to negate a noun (like tijd), similar to saying 'no' or 'not any' in English. You use niet to negate verbs or adjectives. Since we are negating the noun 'time', geen is the right choice here.
The English translation says 'a pity', but the Dutch just says jammer. Why is there no word for 'a'?
In English, 'pity' is a noun, so we say 'a pity'. In Dutch, jammer is actually an adjective meaning 'unfortunate' or 'regrettable'. You never put een (a) in front of jammer because it acts like an adjective, not a noun.
Could I use wij instead of we here?
Yes, you could say ...dat wij geen tijd hebben. You would only use wij if you want to put special emphasis on 'we'. Otherwise, the unstressed form we is the most natural for most common option for everyday speech.

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