Questions & Answers about Wir haben sechzehn Fragen.
Wait, the word for six is sechs. Why is sixteen spelled sechzehn without the 's'?
You spotted an important exception! Normally, teen numbers combine the single digit and zehn (like vierzehn for 14). But for 16, sechs drops its final 's' to become sechzehn. Similarly, 17 is siebzehn (dropping the 'en' from sieben).
Does dropping the 's' in sechzehn change how it is pronounced?
Yes, it changes drastically! In sechs, the 'chs' combination makes an 'x' sound. But because the 's' is dropped in sechzehn, the 'ch' makes the soft hissing sound (like in ich).
Is Fragen plural? What is the singular form?
Yes, Fragen means 'questions'. The singular is die Frage (the question). Many German nouns that end in '-e' simply add an '-n' to make the plural.
Why does haben look exactly like its dictionary form here?
In German, the verb form for wir (we) almost always matches the dictionary form (the infinitive). So 'we have' is simply wir haben.
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