Breakdown of Der Sänger hat eine starke Stimme, und das Publikum klatscht laut.
und
and
haben
to have
laut
loudly
stark
strong
die Stimme
the voice
der Sänger
the singer
das Publikum
the audience
klatschen
to clap
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Questions & Answers about Der Sänger hat eine starke Stimme, und das Publikum klatscht laut.
Why is hat used in Der Sänger hat eine starke Stimme instead of ist?
We use hat because German uses the verb haben (“to have”) to express possession or characteristics like “a strong voice.” Using ist (“to be”) would give “The singer is a strong voice,” which doesn’t make sense.
How do we know that Stimme is feminine and needs eine plus -e in eine starke Stimme?
Every German noun has a gender. Stimme (“voice”) is feminine (die Stimme). As the direct object it’s in the accusative case, so the indefinite article is eine. After an indefinite article, adjectives take weak endings: feminine accusative is -e, hence starke.
Why is there a comma before und in Der Sänger hat eine starke Stimme, und das Publikum klatscht laut? I thought German doesn’t use commas before "and."
In German, placing a comma before und (or oder) that connects two full clauses is optional. Writers often include it to make the sentence structure clearer, but you could also omit it without changing the meaning.
Why is laut not inflected like laute or lautest in klatscht laut?
In German, adjectives used as adverbs remain in their base form. Here laut modifies the verb klatscht (“claps”) and simply means “loudly,” so no ending is added.
Does klatschen require a direct object? Why is there nothing after klatscht?
In this sentence, klatschen (“to clap”) is intransitive—das Publikum klatscht means “the audience claps.” You can add Beifall (“applause”) in more formal contexts (Beifall klatschen), but it isn’t needed here.
Why is the verb klatscht singular when Publikum refers to many people?
Publikum is a collective noun treated as singular in German, so it takes a third‑person singular verb: das Publikum klatscht.
How do you pronounce the umlaut in Sänger?
The ä in Sänger sounds like the e in English bet. The full word is pronounced roughly ZENG‑er (IPA: [ˈzɛŋɐ]).
Can one say in die Hände klatschen instead of just klatscht?
Yes. in die Hände klatschen (“to clap one’s hands”) is more descriptive, but in everyday speech klatschen alone clearly means “to clap.” Both are correct; the shorter form is simply more common.