Breakdown of Þau eignuðust þrjú börn.
barnið
the child
þrír
three
eignast
to come to have, to acquire (eignast barn)
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Questions & Answers about Þau eignuðust þrjú börn.
Why use eignuðust here instead of áttu?
While English uses "had" for both, Icelandic distinguishes between acquiring something and possessing it. Eignast means "to acquire" or "to get" (in this context, to give birth to or adopt children). If you used áttu (from eiga, to have), it would describe the state of possessing three children at a certain time in the past, rather than the life event of bringing them into the family.
What kind of verb is eignuðust and what case does it dictate?
It is the past tense, third-person plural of the -st verb eignast. While many -st verbs are passive or do not take a direct object, eignast is an exception. It acts like a normal active verb and takes its object in the accusative case. Therefore, þrjú börn is in the accusative.
Why is the number three written as þrjú instead of þrír or þrjár?
In Icelandic, the numbers 1 through 4 must agree in gender and case with the noun they modify. Since barn (child) is a neuter noun, its plural börn requires the neuter form of the number. We use the neuter plural accusative form, þrjú, rather than the masculine (þrjá) or feminine (þrjár).
Why does the sentence use the neuter pronoun þau for "they"?