Har du inte ätit än?

Haven't you eaten yet?

Breakdown of Har du inte ätit än?

• du: you
• ha: to have
• äta: to eat
• inte: not

Questions & Answers about Har du inte ätit än?

Why does the sentence start with Har instead of du?

Because this is a yes/no question in Swedish. In main-clause yes/no questions, the finite verb usually comes first.

• Statement: Du har inte ätit än.
• Question: Har du inte ätit än?

So har moves to the front to make it a question, much like English Have you not eaten yet?

What tense is har ätit?

Har ätit is the present perfect.

It is formed with:

• har = present tense of ha
• ätit = the supine form of äta

It corresponds to English have eaten.

So the structure is:

• ha
  • supine
• har ätit = have eaten

Why is it ätit and not äta or åt?