Heeft het restaurant een oven? Ja, ze hebben er vier.

Questions & Answers about Heeft het restaurant een oven? Ja, ze hebben er vier.

Why is the word er needed in the second sentence?
In Dutch, when you state a number or a quantity without repeating the noun it refers to (like saying vier instead of vier ovens), you must use the quantitative er. It acts like "of them" in English. So ze hebben er vier means "they have four of them."
Could I leave er out and just say Ja, ze hebben vier?
No, that is grammatically incorrect in Dutch. If you drop the noun, adding er is mandatory. You must either explicitly state the noun (Ja, ze hebben vier ovens) or use the shortcut with er (Ja, ze hebben er vier).
Why does er come before vier?
The word er is a tiny, unstressed word that likes to sit as close to the verb as possible. In a normal main clause like this, it goes right after the verb (hebben) and before the number (vier).
The first sentence asks about het restaurant (singular). Why does the answer use ze (plural)?
Just like in English, Dutch speakers often refer to a business, company, or restaurant using the plural "they" (ze). You are talking about the people who run the place. You could technically say het heeft er vier (it has four of them), but ze hebben er vier sounds more natural.

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