Breakdown of Wij hebben negen vragen, maar zij hebben tien problemen.
maar
but
wij
we
zij
they
hebben
to have
het probleem
the problem
de vraag
the question
negen
nine
tien
ten
Questions & Answers about Wij hebben negen vragen, maar zij hebben tien problemen.
Do the numbers negen and tien change their spelling depending on the noun they describe?
No, Dutch numbers like negen (nine) and tien (ten) do not change their form. Unlike some adjectives, they don't get extra endings to match the noun. You just put the exact number in front of the plural noun.
I learned that zij means "she". Why is it translated as "they" here?
The pronoun zij can mean either "she" or "they". You can always tell which one it is by looking at the verb next to it. Here, the verb is hebben, which is the plural form (we/you/they have). If the sentence meant "she", it would use the singular verb: zij heeft.
How do the plurals for vragen and problemen work?
Most Dutch nouns become plural by adding -en to the end. The singular words are vraag (question) and probleem (problem). Notice that vraag drops one "a" when it becomes vragen to keep the vowel sounding long, which is a common spelling rule in Dutch.
Does the word maar (but) affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
No, it doesn't. The word maar is a coordinating conjunction. This means it connects two normal sentences without changing the word order in either of them. The second half stays in the standard subject-verb order: zij (subject) hebben (verb).
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