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- Topic: German >
- "Hat er Hunde?"
28 Comments
er and ihr sound so much alike according to this electronic voice
edit: However, for all new learners, had it been "ihr" the sentence would be "Habt ihr Hunde?"
'Hat er Hunde' is the syntax you need for a question, while 'Er hat Hunde' is the basic syntax you use for statements (and some questions, too).
The Difference :- The first is question and this means Has he dogs ? But the second is sentence not question and means he has dogs :D
Now that I think about it, 'Does eggs have dogs?' doesn't sound quite right.
More precisely it translates to: "Has he dogs?" which is the original english syntax for questions (before do/does came from frank)
"Do-support" doesn't come from the Normans (not technically the Franks) but most likely from Celtic or Welsh language influence in Britain. But yes, this came later in Middle English and verb-subject inversion for questions was indeed the original syntax in English and other germanic languages.
And we still see it in constructions like "are you cold?"
I couldn't differentciate between Er and Ihr, and you've no idea how many times I've failed because of this. So I googled how to tell the subtle differences apart, and it said that Ihr is Ear, and Er is Air.
So I was like "YES! I will FINALLY get it right!"
Hat Ihr Hunde
Nope, it was Er.
Seriously, they need to redo the audio recordings for those words.
you should have known the difference between "hat" and "habt". The lesson is to teach you to hear the language AND the rules.
Pay attention to the verb conjugation instead of what you think you hear with er vs. ihr. Habt and hat are distinguishable. With words that have subtle differences in pronunciation, you must always pay attention to the conjugation.
I feel your frustration because I'm in the same situation, now I just plump 50/50 and hope I get it right :/
Your question is extremely vague. Without further explanation, "this" has to mean the entire sentence, and sentences aren't in cases like that.
"Er" is nominativ, and "Hunde" is akkusativ. That is, "Er" is the subject and "Hunde" is the direct object. "Does he have the dog?" would be "Hat er den Hund?"
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Given that this is a question, Does he have dogs? is the best way to put it. English often uses more helper words (does in this case) than other languages, especially when you're asking a question.
Has he dogs? would be understood but is a very odd way to phrase it - note that this is an exact, word-for-word translation of the German, but in English it would seem very old-fashioned to most native speakers.
Has he got dogs? would also work - again, more helper words than most other languages.
