How to Say ‘That took an hour.’ in German
Das hat eine Stunde gedauert.
dahs hat EYE-nuh SHTOON-deh guh-DOW-ert
[dahs hat EYE-nuh SHTOON-deh guh-DOW-ert]
💬 Usage Tip: For how long something took, Germans use dauern "to last", not a word for "take". Swap the time: Das hat ewig gedauert "That took forever".
Phrase Breakdown
Das hat eine Stunde
dahs hat EYE-nuh SHTOON-deh
That took an hour
'Das hat' means 'that has'. 'eine Stunde' means 'one hour'. The 'St' in 'Stunde' sounds like 'sht'.
Das hat eine Stunde Zeit.
That has an hour's time.
Words in this phrase
Das
[dahs]
that; it
Refers back to a previous statement or situation, often translated as 'that' or 'it.'
Das hat einen positiven Eindruck hinterlassen.
That left a positive impression.
hat
[hat]
has
Form of 'haben', used to build the past tense.
Sie hat gewonnen.
She has won.
eine
[EYE-nuh]
a; an; one
Feminine form of the indefinite article, used before singular feminine nouns.
Eine offene Kultur ist mir bei einem Unternehmen wichtig.
An open culture is important to me in a company.
Stunde
[SHTOON-deh]
hour
A period of sixty minutes; feminine noun.
Der Film dauert eine Stunde.
The film lasts one hour.
gedauert.
guh-DOW-ert
lasted / taken
This is the past participle of 'dauern' (to last, to take time). It goes at the end of the sentence. 'au' sounds like 'ow'.
Der Film hat lange gedauert.
The film lasted a long time.
Words in this phrase
gedauert
[guh-DOW-ert]
lasted, took (time)
Past participle of dauern (to last, take time).
Die Party hat lange gedauert.
The party lasted a long time.
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