Questions & Answers about Ze hebben het huis en de auto.
How do we know ze means 'they' instead of 'she' here?
The word ze can mean either 'she' or 'they'. You can tell which one it is by looking at the verb. Because the verb is hebben (the plural form, meaning 'have'), ze must mean 'they'. If it meant 'she', the verb would be the singular form: Ze heeft (She has).
Why does hebben look exactly like the dictionary form of the verb?
In Dutch, the plural forms of verbs in the present tense (for 'we', 'you all', and 'they') almost always use the exact same spelling as the dictionary form, which is called the infinitive. So, wij hebben, jullie hebben, and ze hebben all use the full base word.
Why is it het huis but de auto when both use the word 'the' in English?
Dutch has two words for 'the': de and het. Every noun has an assigned category (gender) that determines which one you use, and you simply have to memorize it when you learn the word. Huis (house) is a het-word, so it takes het, while auto (car) is a de-word, so it takes de.