hafa

Compare Indonesian apa, Hawaiian aha.

hafa

1. what

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaːva/

  Rhymes: -aːva

From Old Norse hafa, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“take, seize”).

hafa (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative hafði, supine haft)

1. to have [with accusative]

   Synonym: vera með

   Ég hef ekki tíma í kvöldmat.

   I don't have time for dinner.

   María hefur áhuga á stjórnmálum.

   Maria is interested in politics.

2. to hold, to have [with accusative]

   Synonyms: ráða yfir, halda

3. to keep [with accusative]

   Synonym: geyma

4. to feel [with accusative]

   Synonym: líða

   Hvernig hefurðu það? - Ég hef það fínt.

   How are you doing? - I'm fine.

• hafa is most often an auxiliary verb (hjálparsögn) which is followed by the past participle. The participle is in the neuter singular with hafa:

  Ég hef oft gert það.

  I've done it many times.

• When hafa is the main verb it's used to indicate something abstract, e.g. time, experience, interest etc.:

  Ég hef nógan tíma.

  I have enough time.

• Note that the verb hafa is not used as the English "have" in the sense of possession of an object. The verb eiga is used in the same way as the verb "have":

  Við eigum hund.

  We have a dog.

Note: The forms hefi — hefir — hefir are fairly rare, but acceptable.

See haf.

hafa n

1. indefinite genitive plural of haf

• hauæ (Jutlandic)

From Old Norse hafa, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną.

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaːvə/

hafa (third-person singular present indicative hafir, third-person singular past indicative hafþi)

1. (Scania) to have
   • c. 1210, "Far þæn man", Scanian Law, chapter 6.

     Far þæn man kunæ ær børn hafir ok […]

     If the man finds a wife, who has children, and […]

• Danish: have
  • Norwegian Bokmål: have, ha

hafa

1. singular imperative of habban

From Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to have, hold”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to take, seize”). Cognate with Old English habban, Old Frisian hebba, Old Saxon hebbian, Old High German habēn, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban).

• IPA^(key): /hɑ.vɑ ~ hɑ.βɑ/

hafa (singular past indicative hafði, plural past indicative hǫfðu, past participle hafðr)

1. to have
2. to hold, keep, retain
3. to bring, carry

• Icelandic: hafa
• Faroese: hava
• Norwegian Nynorsk: hava, ha; (dialectal) håvå, hå
• Elfdalian: åvå
• Old Swedish: hava, hafwa, haffwa, haffua
  • Swedish: ha, hava, hafva (pre-1906 spelling)
• Old Danish: hafa, hauæ
  • Danish: have
    • Norwegian Bokmål: have, ha
• Old Gutnish: hafa

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “hafa”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive