Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Ég á hvorki tíma né peninga í dag.

á is the 1st person singular present of að eiga (to own/have): Ég á = “I have.”
In everyday Icelandic, eiga is the normal choice for having money or time: Ég á tíma/peninga.
You can also use að hafa: Ég hef hvorki tíma né peninga í dag is acceptable, slightly more neutral/formal.
Note: að hafa is also the auxiliary for perfect tenses (e.g., “I have done”), while að eiga is lexical “to have/own.”

How does the construction hvorki … né … work?

hvorki … né … = “neither … nor …”
It’s a paired negative: use hvorki before the first item and né before the second.
Don’t add ekki in the same slot: avoid something like Ég á ekki hvorki tíma né peninga (that’s a double negation and unidiomatic).

Are there other natural ways to say the same thing?

Yes:

Ég á ekki tíma né peninga í dag. (Here né functions as “nor” after a plain ekki.)
Ég á ekki tíma eða peninga í dag. (Colloquial; under negation, eða can mean “nor.”) All three mean the same in practice; hvorki … né … is the most explicitly “neither … nor …”.

Where does hvorki go in the sentence?

In a normal main clause, Icelandic is V2 (the finite verb is second). Put hvorki after the verb: Ég á hvorki tíma né peninga í dag.
You can front something else (like a time phrase), and the verb still stays second: Í dag á ég hvorki tíma né peninga.
For strong emphasis, you can front hvorki: Hvorki á ég tíma né peninga í dag.

Why are tíma and peninga in those forms?

They’re direct objects of að eiga, so they’re in the accusative.
tími (time): nominative tími, accusative tíma (sg.).
peningur (coin; money): plural is used for “money/funds”: nominative peningar, accusative peninga (pl.).

Why is “money” plural (peninga) when English uses a mass noun?

Icelandic typically uses the plural peningar for “money” (funds). The singular peningur is “a coin” or “a (single) sum.”
So Ég á enga peninga = “I have no money,” literally “I have no monies.”

Why is there no word for “any” or an article?

Icelandic has no indefinite article (“a/an”).
Negation plus the noun already gives the “any/no” sense.
You can add neinn/engin/ekkert for emphasis: Ég á engan tíma / Ég á enga peninga, but with hvorki … né … you usually don’t add those.

What’s going on with í dag?

í can take accusative or dative depending on meaning. With time expressions like “today,” í takes the accusative: dag (from dagur).
í dag is a fixed, very common time adverbial meaning “today.”

Could I say something like “for today” or “today I don’t have …” with different word order?

Yes. Word order is quite flexible as long as the verb stays second:
- Í dag á ég hvorki tíma né peninga.
- Ég á hvorki tíma né peninga í dag. Both are idiomatic; the first emphasizes the time frame.

How would I put this in the past or future?

Past (preterite of eiga): Ég átti hvorki tíma né peninga í gær.
Future (modal/auxiliary): Ég mun ekki eiga tíma né peninga á morgun. Often, present with a time adverb also implies near-future: Í dag á ég… can cover the rest of today.

Can I use more than two items with hvorki … né …?

Yes. You can chain né:

Ég á hvorki tíma né peninga né orku í dag. (neither time, nor money, nor energy)

Do both coordinated nouns have to be in the same case?

Yes. Both parts share the case assigned by the verb or preposition. Here both are accusative objects of á:

Ég á hvorki mikinn tíma né neina peninga í dag. (both adjectives also in accusative)

Is it okay to say this with að hafa?

Yes: Ég hef hvorki tíma né peninga í dag.
Nuance: að eiga is very idiomatic for money and time; að hafa sounds a bit more neutral/formal. Both are correct.

How is the sentence pronounced (roughly)?

Very approximate, English-friendly cues:

Ég ≈ “yeh(g)” (the g is fricative, often light)
á ≈ “ow” (as in “now”)
hvorki ≈ “KVOR-ki” (Icelandic “hv” sounds like “kv”)
né ≈ “nyeh” with a long vowel
peninga ≈ “PEH-ning-uh”
í dag ≈ “ee dahg” (final g is a soft fricative) So: “Yehg ow KVOR-ki tee-ma nyeh PEH-ning-uh ee dahg.”

Is né used outside the hvorki … né … pattern?

Yes, né can appear after a simple negation as “nor”: Ég á ekki tíma né peninga.
By itself without a prior negation, né is rare in modern colloquial speech.

Any pitfalls to avoid?

Don’t say ekki hvorki (double negation).
Don’t use og to mean “nor”: ekki … og … is not the standard way to say “neither … nor …”.
Keep verb-second order in main clauses: if you front Í dag, the verb (á) still comes second.