2.20 Impersonal es and the placeholder es — Epoché
What you will be able to do Use es as the subject of weather and of events with no doer: Es schneit. Es klopft an der Tür. Use es gibt with the accusative for there is and there are : Es gibt keinen Wind. Express feelings and states with es and a dative, and know when the es disappears: Es geht mir gut but Mir geht es gut ; Mir ist kalt . Recognise the placeholder es , which only holds the first position: Es waren viele Leute da. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the German aloud; all of them come back below. German English Das betrübt mich wirklich. [1] This makes me so sad. Stimmen Sie wirklich zu? [2] Do you really agree? Es handelt sich hier um einen Roman. [3] This is a work of fiction. Ich glaube nicht, dass sich das lohnt. [4] I don't think it's worth it. Lasst es sein. Es lohnt sich nicht. [5] Leave it. It's not worth it. Ich möchte eben heute nicht einkaufen gehen. [6] I just don't want to go shopping today. Es handelt sich nicht um einen Zufall. [7] It's not a coincidence. Viele Leute handeln so. [8] Many people act like that. Prerequisites : 2.19 — you need the verb-second rule from 2.1 Grammar , es gibt from 3.2 Verbs , and the dative verbs from 4.4 Cases . The little word es does far more than mean it . It is the subject of the weather, the subject of an event without a doer, the subject of es gibt , an advance signal for a clause that follows, and sometimes nothing more than a filler that keeps the verb in second position. English uses it and there for several of the same jobs, which helps. The places where the two languages differ are the ones this lesson concentrates on. The roles of es Role Example English Does es stay if another word comes first? weather and time Es schneit. It's snowing. yes: Heute schneit es. event with no doer Es klingelt. The bell is ringing. yes es gibt + accusative Es gibt keinen Wind. There is no wind. yes: Heute gibt es keinen Wind. feeling with a dative Es geht mir gut. I'm fine. usually: Mir geht es gut. But Mir ist kalt , without es . signal for a clause Es freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen. I'm pleased to meet you. no, if the clause comes first placeholder Es waren viele Leute da. There were many people there. no: Viele Leute waren da. In real sentences Weather and events without a doer. German English Es schneite. [9] It was snowing. Es donnert. [10] It thunders. Es ist kalt. [11] The weather is cold. Es klingelte. [12] It rang. Es klopft an der Tür. [13] Someone is knocking on the door. es gibt : existence. The verb is always singular, and what exists is its accusative object. German English Es gibt keine Katze. [14] There isn't a cat. Heute gibt es keinen Wind. [15] There's no wind today. Hier gibt es Bücher. [16] There are books here. Gibt es Gott? [17] Does God exist? Feelings and states. With gehen the es stays even when the dative comes first. With sein and an adjective of feeling, the es is dropped, and some verbs have only the dative or accusative person and no es at all. German English Es geht mir gut. [18] I am good. Mir geht es gut. [19] I am good. Wie geht es dir? [20] How're you doing? Mir ist kalt. [21] I feel cold. Mich friert. [22] I'm freezing. Es fällt mir schwer. [23] It's not easy for me. A signal for a clause. es announces the real subject, which follows as an infinitive or a dass clause. German English Es freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen! [24] I am delighted to meet you. Es ist schön, dass du wieder zurück bist. [25] It's nice that you're back again. The placeholder. Here es is not the subject at all. It fills the first position so that the verb can stand second and the real subject can come later, where new information belongs. The verb agrees with the real subject: es waren , plural. German English Es waren viele Leute da. [26] There were lots of people. Es kamen auch viele Jugendfreunde. [27] Many friends of my youth also came. Viele Leute waren wegen der Nachrichten betrübt. [28] A lot of people were saddened by the news. In the last sentence the subject itself comes first, and the placeholder is not needed. How English does it Weather it is the same. It's snowing , it's cold , it's late : English and German both use a dummy subject for weather and time, and both keep it whatever comes first. Today it's snowing is Heute schneit es . There is is usually es gibt . English there is and there are agree with what follows. German es gibt never changes: es gibt einen Park , es gibt viele Parks , and what exists is an accusative object, so a masculine noun shows einen or keinen . Use es gibt for general existence, especially of things that are always there. For people or things present at a particular place and time, German often uses sein with the placeholder es instead, and then the verb does agree, just like English there were : Es waren viele Leute da. English makes the person the subject; German often does not. English says I'm cold , I'm fine , I find it hard . German puts the person in the dative and either uses es or nothing as the subject: Mir ist kalt , literally to me is cold ; Es geht mir gut , it goes well for me ; Es fällt mir schwer , it falls heavy on me . Saying ich bin kalt means that you are a cold person. This is the same inside-out pattern as gefallen and fehlen in 4.4 Cases . The signal it works the same way. English also announces a following clause with it : it's nice that you're back , it's hard to find work . German es does exactly this. The one difference appears when the clause moves to the front. English then drops it as well: that you're back is nice . German does the same: when the dass clause comes first, it fills the first position itself, and the es has no work left to do. A good rule is that es never stands in the same sentence as the clause it announces if that clause has already been said. No doer, no subject. English needs a subject for every sentence: someone is knocking , the bell rang . German can describe the event itself with es : Es klopft , Es klingelte . Engli