Breakdown of Jullie hebben vijf fietsen en wij hebben zes auto's.
en
and
de auto
the car
wij
we
jullie
you (plural)
Questions & Answers about Jullie hebben vijf fietsen en wij hebben zes auto's.
Do the numbers vijf and zes change their spelling to match the plural nouns?
No, cardinal numbers like vijf (five) and zes (six) do not change their spelling or endings. They stay exactly the same whether the noun they are counting is singular or plural.
Why does auto's have an apostrophe, but fietsen ends in -en?
Dutch has two main ways to make a noun plural: adding -en or adding -s. Fiets (bicycle) takes the standard -en to become fietsen. However, words that end in a single open vowel, like auto (car), need an apostrophe before the s ( auto's ). This tells you to keep the long vowel sound. If you wrote autos without the apostrophe, the rules of Dutch spelling would make it sound like a short o.
Why is the word jullie used for 'you' here?
Jullie is the plural form of you (like you all or you guys). In Dutch, you must use a different word for you depending on whether you are talking to one person (jij or je) or multiple people (jullie).
Why do both jullie and wij use the exact same verb form, hebben?