Breakdown of Wir hatten gestern keine Zeit, aber wir gehen heute hin.
haben
to have
aber
but
kein
no, not any
die Zeit
the time
Questions & Answers about Wir hatten gestern keine Zeit, aber wir gehen heute hin.
Why do we use hin here instead of dort to say "there"?
dort (and da) describes a fixed location, like saying "We are over there." Because we are talking about moving toward a destination (gehen), we need a directional word. hin specifically means motion away from the speaker ("to there").
Is hin acting as a separable prefix for gehen in this sentence?
Yes! hingehen (to go there) is a separable verb. When used in a standard main clause like this one, the prefix hin detaches and moves to the very end of the sentence: wir gehen heute hin.
Does aber change the word order in the second half of the sentence?
No. aber (but) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it sits outside the normal sentence structure in "position 0". After aber, the counting starts fresh: the subject wir is in position 1, and the verb gehen takes its usual spot in position 2.
Why use the simple past hatten instead of the conversational past (haben ... gehabt)?
While spoken German usually prefers the conversational past (Perfekt) for most verbs, haben (to have) and sein (to be) are big exceptions. Native speakers almost always use their simple past forms (hatten and waren) even in casual conversation because they are shorter and easier to say.