Hej, hvad så? Har du tid i dag?

Not really. Literally, hvad means what and så means then/so, but hvad så? is a fixed casual expression.

In conversation, it can mean things like:

• What’s up?
• How’s it going?
• So, what’s happening?

It is informal and friendly. You would use it with friends, classmates, coworkers in a relaxed setting, and people you know fairly well.

Hej is the normal everyday Danish greeting. It is friendly and neutral, and it works in many situations.

You can use Hej with:

• friends
• coworkers
• shop staff
• neighbors
• most people in everyday life

It is less formal than something like Goddag, which is more old-fashioned or formal. In modern spoken Danish, Hej is extremely common.

Because this is a yes/no question.

In Danish, yes/no questions usually begin with the verb:

• Har du tid i dag? = Do you have time today?

The normal statement order would be:

• Du har tid i dag. = You have time today.

So the difference is mainly word order:

• statement: subject + verb
• question: verb + subject

This is similar to English You have... versus Do you have..., except Danish does not need an extra do.

Danish forms this kind of question without a helper verb like English do.

English:

• Do you have time today?

Danish:

• Har du tid i dag?

The verb har already carries the question structure by moving in front of the subject du. So Danish does not need a separate word like do here.

Here, tid means time available or free time, not just clock time.

So Har du tid i dag? means something like:

• Are you free today?
• Do you have time today?

It does not normally mean Do you know the time today? or anything like that.

Because tid is being used in a general, uncountable sense.

In this sentence, tid means some time / enough time / availability, so Danish does not use the indefinite article en.

Compare:

• Har du tid? = Do you have time?
• Jeg har tid. = I have time.

If you were talking about a specific appointment time or a time slot, you might use other wording, but in this sentence plain tid is the natural choice.

I dag means today.

In this sentence, it comes at the end:

• Har du tid i dag?

That is very natural. Danish often places time expressions like this toward the end.

You can sometimes move it for emphasis:

• Har du i dag tid? — possible, but less natural in normal conversation
• I dag har du tid. — a statement, not the same question structure

So for a learner, Har du tid i dag? is the best standard form to use.

In everyday Danish, hvad is usually pronounced much shorter than it looks.

The d is not pronounced like a clear English d at the end. In normal speech, hvad often sounds close to va.

So hvad så? often sounds approximately like:

• va so?

That is one reason spoken Danish can feel quite different from the written form.

A rough learner-friendly guide:

• Hej ≈ hi
• hvad så ≈ va so
• Har du tid i dag? ≈ ha du ti i dai?

A few notes:

• Hej sounds very close to English hi
• hvad is often reduced to something like va
• du is often pronounced softly, not with a strong English d
• dag in i dag does not sound exactly like English day, but that is a decent rough guide for beginners

Natural speech will often reduce sounds, especially in casual conversation.

It is usually friendly and casual, but tone matters.

With a warm tone, Hej, hvad så? sounds like:

• Hey, what’s up?

But in another context, hvad så? by itself can sometimes sound more challenging, like:

• So?
• What now?

In your sentence, because it starts with Hej and is followed by Har du tid i dag?, it clearly sounds friendly and conversational.

It is quite natural and informal.

It sounds like something you would say to:

• a friend
• a sibling
• a classmate
• someone you already know

It would be less suitable in a very formal situation, such as writing to an important official or someone you do not know well. In those cases, you would usually choose a more neutral opening than hvad så?

Not exactly as written, because du means you for one person.

If you are speaking to more than one person, Danish often uses I:

• Har I tid i dag? = Do you all have time today?

So:

• Har du tid i dag? = one person
• Har I tid i dag? = more than one person

Yes, but in modern Danish everyday speech, the version with du is already normal and polite in most situations.

A more formal version with De exists:

• Har De tid i dag?

However, De is quite formal and much less common in everyday modern Danish. Many Danish speakers mostly use du, even in situations where English might still choose a more formal style.

So unless the situation is very formal, Har du tid i dag? is usually the right choice.