Breakdown of Die Wohnung hat einen langen Flur.
lang
long
haben
to have
die Wohnung
the apartment
der Flur
the hallway
Questions & Answers about Die Wohnung hat einen langen Flur.
Why is hat used instead of ist?
In German, haben expresses possession or that something “features” a characteristic—just like English “to have.”
Die Wohnung hat einen langen Flur means “The apartment has a long hallway.”
If you said ist, you’d be claiming “The apartment is a long hallway,” which isn’t what you mean.
Why is Flur in the accusative case?
Any direct object of haben in German must be in the accusative. Here, “a long hallway” is what the apartment has, so Flur is the object and takes accusative case.
Why is the article einen and not ein?
Flur is a masculine noun. In the accusative singular, the indefinite article ein changes to einen for all masculine nouns. Hence einen Flur.
Why does lang become langen here?
When an adjective directly modifies a noun (attributive use), German requires an ending to show gender, case, and number.
– Masculine
– Accusative
– Indefinite article
All together force the adjective ending -en, giving einen langen Flur.