Breakdown of Wir haben achtzehn Flaschen Wasser gekauft.
kaufen
to buy
das Wasser
the water
haben
to have
wir
we
Questions & Answers about Wir haben achtzehn Flaschen Wasser gekauft.
How is achtzehn formed? Does it follow a regular pattern?
Yes! Just like in English (eight + teen), German numbers from 13 to 19 are usually formed by combining the base number and zehn (ten). So, acht (eight) + zehn (ten) becomes achtzehn.
Why is there no word for "of" in Flaschen Wasser?
In German, you do not use a word like "of" between a container or measurement and the substance it holds. You just put the two nouns right next to each other. So "bottles of water" is simply Flaschen Wasser.
Why is gekauft at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence is in the conversational past tense. In German, when you use a helping verb like haben (have), it takes the regular second position in the sentence, and the past-tense action verb (gekauft - bought) gets pushed all the way to the end.
Why does the word for bottle have an "n" at the end here?
Because it is plural! The singular word is die Flasche (the bottle). A very common pattern in German is that nouns ending in -e simply add an -n to become plural, making it Flaschen (bottles).