Breakdown of Hebben jullie een nietmachine, want de onze is leeg.
zijn
to be
een
a/an
jullie
you (plural)
hebben
to have
Questions & Answers about Hebben jullie een nietmachine, want de onze is leeg.
Why is it de onze and not het onze?
The pronoun refers back to nietmachine (stapler). Because it is de nietmachine, the independent pronoun must match the gender of that noun and use de. If we were talking about a 'het' word, like het boek (the book), we would say het onze (ours).
How do independent possessive pronouns work for 'ours' compared to 'mine' or 'yours'?
When you want to say 'ours' as an independent pronoun (standing alone without a noun), you just use de onze or het onze. Notice that unlike de mijne (mine) or de jouwe (yours), we don't add an extra -e or -ne to the end of onze.
Why doesn't the word want push the verb is to the end of the sentence?
Want (because) is a coordinating conjunction, meaning it links two normal, independent sentences together without changing the word order. If you used the other word for 'because', omdat, the verb would move to the end: ... omdat de onze leeg is.
Does nietmachine literally mean 'not-machine'?
It looks exactly like it! However, the Dutch verb nieten means 'to staple', and een nietje is a staple. So a nietmachine is literally a 'staple-machine'.