Breakdown of Hij heeft thuis twee piano's.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
thuis
at home
hebben
to have
twee
two
de piano
the piano
Questions & Answers about Hij heeft thuis twee piano's.
Why does piano's get an apostrophe for its plural instead of just adding an -s?
In Dutch, nouns ending in a single open vowel letter (like -a, -i, -o, -u, or -y) get an apostrophe plus s ('s) for the plural. If you just wrote pianos, Dutch spelling rules would make the o sound short. The apostrophe keeps the o sounding like a long vowel!
Is the plural apostrophe 's pronounced as a separate syllable?
No, it sounds exactly like a regular plural -s. The apostrophe is purely a spelling trick to protect the long vowel sound of the o, but you just say it as one syllable, similar to English.
Why is thuis placed before twee piano's?
In Dutch, adverbs describing a place (like thuis, meaning 'at home') usually come before the direct object if that object is non-specific. Because twee piano's is an indefinite amount (just two pianos in general, not 'the' two pianos), the place adverb comes first.
What is the difference between huis and thuis?
Huis is a noun meaning 'house' (the physical building), while thuis is an adverb meaning 'at home'. Since we want to say he has the pianos 'at home', we use thuis.
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