Learn Dutch: Wij hebben veel geluk.

Wij hebben veel geluk.

We are very lucky.

Breakdown of Wij hebben veel geluk.

veel

much / many / a lot of

het geluk

the luck; the happiness

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Questions & Answers about Wij hebben veel geluk.

Why does the Dutch sentence use hebben (have) instead of a verb for 'are'?

In English, you say 'to be lucky', which uses the verb 'to be' and an adjective. In Dutch, the expression is geluk hebben (to have luck). Since geluk is a noun, you literally say 'We have luck'.

Why does the translation say 'very lucky' but the Dutch sentence uses veel (much/a lot of)?

This goes back to geluk being a noun. In English, you modify the adjective 'lucky' with 'very'. In Dutch, you are describing the amount of the noun geluk (luck), so you must use veel (much/a lot of). You cannot use an adverb like erg (very) directly with a noun.

This lesson is about the word dat (that). How would this sentence look if it came after Ik denk dat (I think that)?

The word dat introduces a subordinate clause, which pushes the conjugated verb to the very end of that clause. The verb hebben would move to the end, making the sentence: Ik denk dat wij veel geluk hebben.

Is there a difference between using wij and we here?