Breakdown of Das Auto hat eine schöne Farbe. Es ist grün.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
es
it
schön
beautiful
haben
to have
das Auto
the car
die Farbe
the color
grün
green
Questions & Answers about Das Auto hat eine schöne Farbe. Es ist grün.
Why does schöne have an -e at the end?
In German, adjectives change their endings based on the gender and case of the noun they describe. Here, Farbe is feminine (die Farbe) and it is the direct object (accusative case) of the verb hat. After the word eine, a feminine accusative noun requires the adjective to end in -e.
Why do we use Es in the second sentence? Is it just because a car is an object?
It happens to match English here, but for a different reason! In German, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. We use Es because it refers back to das Auto, which is a neuter noun. If the first sentence had used the masculine word for car, der Wagen, the second sentence would have to start with Er.
Why doesn't grün have an ending like schöne does?
Adjectives only get special endings when they come directly before the noun they describe, like in eine schöne Farbe. When an adjective comes after a verb like ist to describe the subject, it stays in its basic dictionary form. That is why it is just grün, not grünes.
Is Farbe the subject or the object of the first sentence?
Farbe is the direct object. The subject is Das Auto, which is doing the action of having. Because Farbe is the object being had, it is in the accusative case. Recognizing this is important because the case determines the ending on the adjective schöne.
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