Questions & Answers about Der Zug hatte Verspätung.
Why does this sentence use hatte (had) instead of war (was)?
In German, the standard way to say a train, bus, or flight is delayed is to say it literally 'has delay' (hatte Verspätung). English uses the verb 'to be' (was delayed), but German uses haben (to have) for this.
Is hatte the Perfekt tense?
No, hatte is the simple past tense of haben. Even though you usually use the Perfekt tense for the past in spoken German, the verbs haben and sein are big exceptions. Germans almost always use their simple past forms (hatte and war) instead of their Perfekt forms, even in everyday conversation.
Could I just say Der Zug war spät?
People would understand you, but Verspätung haben (to have a delay) is the most natural, idiomatic way to talk about public transport being late in German. You usually save the word spät (late) for people or times of day.
Why isn't there an article like eine before Verspätung?
In this phrase, Verspätung is used as a general concept, much like 'luck' or 'trouble' in English. The train just has 'delay', so no article is needed before the noun.
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