Þau elska hvort annað.

to love

Breakdown of Þau elska hvort annað.

• þau: they
• hvort annað: each other

Questions & Answers about Þau elska hvort annað.

What does þau mean exactly in this sentence?

Þau is a third-person plural pronoun and here it means they.

Grammatically, þau is:

• Neuter, plural, nominative
• Used for:
  • Mixed groups (men + women)
  • Groups where gender isn’t specified
  • Often also as a gender-neutral plural for people in general

So Þau elska hvort annað is “They (a mixed/unspecified group) love each other.”

Why is it þau and not þeir or þær?

Icelandic has three plural “they” pronouns:

• þeir – masculine plural (all men or grammatically masculine things)
• þær – feminine plural (all women or grammatically feminine things)
• þau – neuter plural (mixed group, or grammatically neuter things)

In everyday use:

• þeir is mostly for all-male groups
• þær is mostly for all-female groups
• þau is the normal choice for mixed groups or when you don’t want to specify gender

Since the English they doesn’t show gender, þau is often the most natural translation unless context clearly says “all men” or “all women”.

What is the verb form elska here — is it infinitive or present tense?

In this sentence elska is present tense, 3rd person plural.

The present conjugation of að elska (to love) is:

• ég elska – I love
• þú elskar – you (singular) love
• hann / hún / það elskar – he / she / it loves
• við elskum – we love
• þið elskið – you (plural) love
• þeir / þær / þau elska – they love

So with þau, the correct form is elska. It just happens to look the same as ég elska (I love).

What does hvort annað literally mean, and why is it used for “each other”?

Hvort annað is the standard Icelandic way to say each other / one another for a neuter or mixed group.

Literally:

• hvort = “each (one of two)” in neuter
• annað = “other” (neuter form of annar “other, second”)

So the literal idea is something like “each (one) the other (one)”, which is exactly the same logic as English each other.

In normal usage, you can treat hvort annað simply as the fixed phrase for each other when the subject is þau.

Why is it hvort here and not hvor?

The base word is hvor (“which of two / each (of two)”).

It changes its form according to gender and case. In the neuter nominative/accusative singular, the form is hvort.

For the reciprocal construction “each other” in the accusative, we get:

• Masculine: hvorn annan
• Feminine: hvora aðra
• Neuter: hvort annað

Because the subject þau is neuter plural, the reciprocal phrase takes the neuter form: hvort annað.

Is hvort annað plural or singular grammatically? It refers to “they”, so why does it look singular?

Grammatically, hvort annað is neuter singular accusative, even though it refers to a plural group.

Reason: the structure is conceptually “each (one) the other (one)”. Each member of the group is paired with one other member, so the words themselves stay in singular.

This is the same idea as in English:

• We say each other, not “each others”.

So:

• Þau = plural subject, they
• hvort annað = singular reciprocal object, “each other”

They don’t match in number, and that’s normal.

What case is hvort annað in, and why?

Hvort annað is in the accusative case.

• The verb elska (to love) takes a direct object in the accusative.
• The direct object here is hvort annað (each other).

In neuter, nominative and accusative have the same ending, so it looks similar in other roles too, but in this sentence its function is clearly “what is loved”, so it is accusative.

Could you use sig instead of hvort annað? What would Þau elska sig mean?

You usually do not use sig here if you mean “they love each other”.

• Þau elska hvort annað = They love each other. (reciprocal: A loves B and B loves A)
• Þau elska sig = They love themselves. (reflexive: each one loves themselves, or they love their own group)

Sig refers back to the subject itself (reflexive), while hvort annað describes a mutual relationship between members of the group.

So for “each other / one another”, stick with hvort annað here.

Is there any difference in meaning between “each other” and “one another” in Icelandic, like in English?

No practical difference.

English has two phrases:

• each other
• one another

Icelandic basically uses one reciprocal system based on hvor / annar, and in this sentence, the natural phrasing is hvort annað.

Both each other and one another in English can be translated here as hvort annað. There’s no everyday distinction similar to any subtle style differences in English.

What is the word annað by itself? Is it related to English “another” or “other”?

Yes, annað is the neuter singular form of the adjective/pronoun annar, which means other, another, second.

It is historically related to English other and another; they all come from the same Proto-Germanic root.

So:

• annar (m.), önnur (f.), annað (n.) ≈ “other / another / second”

In hvort annað, it’s the neuter annað used as part of the fixed reciprocal phrase “each other”.

How is Þau elska hvort annað pronounced?

Approximate pronunciation (IPA and an English-based guide):

• Þau – [θœi̯]

  • þ = voiceless “th” as in thing
  • au = a diphthong, somewhat like English “uh” + “ee” merged, roughly [œi̯]

• elska – [ˈɛlska]

  • e = like e in get
  • stress on the first syllable: EL-ska

• hvort – [kʰvɔr̥t]

  • hv is pronounced roughly kv
  • o like in British “not”, with a bit more rounding
  • final -rt cluster is pronounced together; r is tapped

• annað – [ˈaːnað]

  • a here is long [aː], like a long “ah”
  • ð is a soft, voiced “th” as in this, but often very weak or almost absent in fast speech

Put together, a rough English-friendly rendering could be:
“THœi EL-ska KVORT A-tha(h)”, with stress on Þau and annað.

Can the word order be different, like Þau hvort annað elska?

In normal, neutral sentences, Icelandic prefers S–V–O order, just like English:

• Þau (subject)
• elska (verb)
• hvort annað (object)

So Þau elska hvort annað is the standard word order.

Variations like Þau hvort annað elska would sound unnatural or at best highly marked/poetic. For everyday use, keep Þau elska hvort annað.

How would you say “They loved each other” in the past tense?

You change the verb elska to its past plural form elskuðu:

• Þau elskuðu hvort annað.
  = They loved each other.

Conjugation of elska in the simple past:

• ég elskaði – I loved
• þú elskaðir – you (sing.) loved
• hann / hún / það elskaði – he / she / it loved
• við elskuðum – we loved
• þið elskuðuð – you (pl.) loved
• þeir / þær / þau elskuðu – they loved

So with þau, you use elskuðu.