Questions & Answers about Mijn broer had een oude knuffel in bed.
Why do we use had instead of hadden in this sentence?
Had is the singular simple past tense of hebben (to have). Because the subject is mijn broer (my brother, which is just one person), we use had. If the subject were plural, like "my brothers", you would use hadden (Mijn broers hadden...).
Why is there an -e at the end of oude?
This is a great review of the Dutch adjective rules. When you use the word een (a/an) before a noun, the adjective gets an extra -e added to it if the noun is a de-word. Because it is de knuffel, the adjective oud (old) becomes oude.
I learned that knuffel means hug. Does it also mean stuffed animal?
Yes, it does! The word knuffel is commonly used for both a physical hug and a cuddly toy or stuffed animal. You can usually tell which meaning is intended based on the context of the sentence.
Why is it just in bed and not in het bed?
Just like in English, where we normally say "in bed" rather than "in the bed" when talking about resting or sleeping, Dutch uses the set phrase in bed without an article.