Questions & Answers about Ich hatte gestern einen Traum.
Why is the verb hatte used here instead of habe?
hatte is the simple past tense form of haben (to have). Because the sentence is talking about gestern (yesterday), we use the past tense for the subject ich to mean 'I had'.
Why is it einen Traum and not ein Traum?
The verb haben (and its past tense hatte) needs a direct object, which means we must use the accusative case. Because Traum is a masculine noun (der Traum), the word for 'a' changes from ein to einen in the accusative case.
Why does gestern come right after the verb instead of at the end?
In German, words that tell us 'when' something happened (like gestern) usually come right after the verb. It is much more natural to put the time word early in the sentence rather than at the very end like we often do in English.
Can Traum mean a life goal or wish, just like in English?
Yes! Traum can be a dream you have while you are asleep, or it can be a big hope or goal you have for your future.