Breakdown of Ja, wir sind müde und haben Hunger.
sein
to be
und
and
ja
yes
haben
to have
wir
we
müde
tired
der Hunger
the hunger
Hunger haben
to be hungry
Questions & Answers about Ja, wir sind müde und haben Hunger.
Why does the German sentence say haben Hunger when the English translation says "hungry"?
In English, you use the verb "to be" with the adjective "hungry". But in German, you usually use the verb haben (to have) with the noun Hunger (hunger). So Germans literally say "we have hunger". The same rule applies to being thirsty: wir haben Durst (we have thirst).
Are sind and haben both plural verbs here?
Yes! Because the subject is wir (we), both verbs must be in their "we" form. sind is the "we" form of sein (to be), and haben is the "we" form of haben (to have).
Why isn't the word wir repeated after und?
Just like in English, if the subject remains exactly the same for the second part of the sentence, you don't need to repeat it. You can say wir sind müde und wir haben Hunger, but dropping the second wir sounds much more natural.
Why is Hunger capitalized?
In German, every single noun (a person, place, thing, or idea) is always capitalized. Because Hunger is a noun here, it must start with a capital letter, even though it comes at the end of the sentence.
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