Word
Der Lehrer hat recht, die Antwort ist falsch.
Meaning
The teacher is right, the answer is wrong.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Lehrer hat recht, die Antwort ist falsch.
sein
to be
haben
to have
der Lehrer
the teacher
die Antwort
the answer
Questions & Answers about Der Lehrer hat recht, die Antwort ist falsch.
Why does the sentence use hat recht instead of "ist recht"?
In English, we say that a person "is" right. In German, you use the phrase recht haben, which literally means to "have right". Because the teacher is a singular third person (he/she), we use hat (has): Der Lehrer hat recht.
Should recht be capitalized here?
You will actually see it both ways! According to current German spelling rules, both recht haben (lowercase) and Recht haben (uppercase) are correct. It comes from the noun das Recht (the right or the law), which is why you "have" it.
Wait, isn't the word for "word" (das Wort) neuter? Why is die Antwort feminine?
You have a good memory! Usually, compound words in German take the gender of their final word. However, die Antwort (the answer) is a rare exception. It is feminine, even though das Wort is neuter. You just have to memorize this one as die Antwort.
Does falsch mean "false" or "wrong"?
It means both! While we have two different words in English, German uses falsch to mean both "false" and "wrong". In the context of an answer on a test or a statement, it is usually translated as "wrong".