Questions & Answers about Wir brauchen eine Stunde.
Why use Stunde instead of Uhr here?
In German, you use die Stunde when talking about a duration or length of time, like needing an hour to finish something. You use die Uhr when talking about a specific time on the clock (like "one o'clock" = ein Uhr) or the physical clock itself.
The translation says "one hour". Why is it eine and not eins?
When the number "one" comes right before a noun, it behaves just like the word "a" or "an", meaning it changes to match the noun's gender. Because Stunde is a feminine noun, we use eine. You only use eins when counting on its own (one, two, three) or giving a clock time like halb eins (half past twelve).
Is eine Stunde the direct object (accusative case) in this sentence?
Yes! It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb brauchen (to need). For feminine nouns, the article eine looks exactly the same in both the subject (nominative) and object (accusative) positions, which makes it easy to use here.
How would I change this sentence to say "We need two hours"?
You would say Wir brauchen zwei Stunden. To make the feminine noun die Stunde plural, you simply add an -n to the end of the word.
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