Breakdown of Hafa þau tíma í dag?
þau
they (n)
í dag
today
tíminn
the time / the class (m) / the hour
hafa
to have
Questions & Answers about Hafa þau tíma í dag?
Why is there no word for "Do" at the beginning of this question?
In Icelandic, you don't use a helper word like "do" to ask a yes/no question. Instead, you just swap the order of the subject and the verb. The statement "They have" is Þau hafa, so to ask "Do they have?", you simply flip it to Hafa þau?
We learned before that "to have" is often vera með. Why are we using hafa here?
You use the phrase vera með (literally "to be with") when you are talking about holding, carrying, or physically possessing a tangible object, like a book or a dog. However, for abstract concepts that you can't touch—like time (tími), an idea, or an illness—you must use the verb hafa.
Why does the word for time end in an "a" (tíma) instead of an "i"?
The dictionary form of the word for "time" is tími. But because "time" is the direct object of the verb hafa—it's the thing that is being had—it must change into the accusative case. For this specific masculine noun, the ending changes from -i to -a, making it tíma.
Is hafa the dictionary form of the verb, or is it conjugated for þau?
It is both! A handy rule for plural subjects in Icelandic ("we", "you all", and "they") is that the present tense verb usually looks exactly like the infinitive (the dictionary form). Since þau means "they", the verb takes the base form hafa.