Breakdown of Das Haus hat sechzehn Fenster.
das Haus
the house
haben
to have
das Fenster
the window
sechzehn
sixteen
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Questions & Answers about Das Haus hat sechzehn Fenster.
Why is the verb hat used here instead of ist?
In German, haben means “to have,” while sein means “to be.” The sentence is talking about possession of windows, so you use the third-person singular form hat (he/she/it has). If you used ist, you’d be saying “the house is sixteen windows,” which doesn’t make sense.
What is the grammatical case of sechzehn Fenster?
It’s the accusative case because Fenster is the direct object of hat. In the singular, das Haus is the nominative subject, and sechzehn Fenster (“sixteen windows”) receives the action of having.
Why isn’t there an article (like die) before Fenster?
When you use a cardinal number (sechzehn, zwanzig, dreiunddreißig etc.), the noun it modifies usually appears without an article. So you say sechzehn Fenster rather than sechzehn die Fenster.
Why is Fenster unchanged in the plural? Shouldn’t there be an –n or –e ending?
Some German nouns have identical forms in singular and plural. Fenster happens to be one of them:
- Singular: ein Fenster
- Plural: zwei (or sechzehn) Fenster
You just rely on the number to tell you it’s plural.
Why is the article das used with Haus?
Every German noun has a grammatical gender. Haus is a neuter noun, so its definite article in the nominative singular is das. You learn “das Haus” as a chunk when you memorize the noun.
Why is sechzehn written as one word, and how do I pronounce it?
German numbers from 13 to 19 are fused into single words: dreizehn, vierzehn, … sechzehn, siebzehn, etc. You pronounce sechzehn roughly like ZECH-tsayn, with a voiceless “ch” ([ç]) and no audible “h” following it.
Why is the verb hat in the second position in the sentence?
German main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule: the finite verb must occupy the second position.
- Position 1 (topic): Das Haus
- Position 2 (verb): hat
- Rest of the clause: sechzehn Fenster
Can I use a numeral digit instead of writing sechzehn out?
Yes. In informal contexts, you can write Das Haus hat 16 Fenster. In formal writing, it’s often preferred to spell out numbers up to twenty, but digits are widely understood.