Breakdown of Wir haben ein Haustier, einen kleinen Hund.
der Hund
the dog
klein
small
haben
to have
wir
we
das Haustier
the pet
Questions & Answers about Wir haben ein Haustier, einen kleinen Hund.
Why is it einen kleinen Hund and not just ein kleiner Hund?
Hund is in the accusative case here. It acts as a descriptive addition (called an apposition) to ein Haustier, which is the direct object of the verb haben. Since the direct object is accusative, the extra information attached to it must also be accusative. Because Hund is masculine (der Hund), the article becomes einen and the adjective takes the -en ending.
If both are in the accusative case, why is it ein Haustier but einen Hund?
They have different grammatical genders. Haustier is a neuter noun, and in the accusative case, the neuter indefinite article remains ein. Hund is masculine, and masculine nouns change their indefinite article to einen when they are the direct object.
What determines the gender of a compound noun like Haustier?
In German, the very last word in a compound noun always determines its grammatical gender. Since das Tier (the animal) is neuter, the compound word das Haustier (the house animal or pet) is also neuter, regardless of the gender of das Haus.
Could I say Wir haben ein Haustier, das ein kleiner Hund ist instead?
Yes! That creates a relative clause. Inside that new clause, ein kleiner Hund is used with the verb ist (to be), which requires the nominative case instead of the accusative. The original sentence is just a shorter way to attach the extra information directly in the same case using a comma.
Learn Wir haben ein Haustier, einen kleinen Hund and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free