Breakdown of Haar moeder heeft veel broers.
hebben
to have
de broer
the brother
veel
much / many / a lot of
de moeder
the mother
haar
her
Questions & Answers about Haar moeder heeft veel broers.
Does haar change depending on the gender of the word it goes with?
No! Just like in English, Dutch possessive words like haar (her) and zijn (his) match the owner, not the thing being owned. Since the mother belongs to a woman, we use haar. If the owner were a man, it would be zijn moeder (his mother).
Why does broers end in -s instead of -en?
While many Dutch words get pluralized with -en, words that end in -er usually take an -s instead. This is why we say broers (brothers), moeders (mothers), and vaders (fathers).
Does veel mean "many" or "much"?
It means both! In Dutch, veel is used for things you can count (like veel broers meaning "many brothers") and things you cannot count (like veel water meaning "much water"). You don't have to learn two separate words like you do in English.
Why use heeft here instead of heb?
Heeft is the "he/she/it" form of the irregular verb hebben (to have). The subject of the sentence is Haar moeder (Her mother). Since "her mother" is a "she", we use heeft (has), just like in English.
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