Questions & Answers about De vrouw heeft twee uur gelopen.
Why do we use heeft here instead of is with a motion verb like lopen?
Because the sentence describes the activity of walking, rather than moving toward a specific destination. When a verb of motion focuses on the action itself (like walking for a certain duration), it takes hebben. If a destination was mentioned, you would use zijn to show the completed path, for example: De vrouw is naar huis gelopen (The woman walked home).
The English translation says 'for two hours', so why isn't there a word for 'for' in the Dutch sentence?
In Dutch, you do not need a preposition to express a duration of time. You simply state the time period directly, like twee uur. Adding a direct translation of 'for', like voor, would sound unnatural in this context.
Why is it twee uur and not the plural twee uren?
In Dutch, most units of time, measurement, and weight stay in their singular form when they come after a number. Because of this rule, you say twee uur (two hours), drie kilo (three kilos), and vijf meter (five meters). Note that words like dag (day) and week (week) are exceptions and do become plural.
Could gelopen also mean 'run' in this sentence?