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?