Impersonal verbs in German – using es gibt

• Impersonal verbsdo not have a particular subject.

• They describe general situations or conditions, eg Es gibt einen Park. There is a park.

• es does not refer to a specific person.

• Es gibt means both there is and there are depending on the context, and it is followed by the accusative case.

es gibt is a set phrase in German which means both there is and there are.

es gibt is followed by the accusative case, which means the noun it refers to is the direct object in the sentence.

If a definite article is used, the noun is preceded by den, die or das.

For example:

• Es gibt den neuen Film heute Abend im Kino. – There is the new film at the cinema this evening.

If an indefinite article is used, the noun is preceded by einen, eine or ein.

For example:

• Es gibt einen Park. – There is a park.

No article is needed with plural nouns.

Examples:

• Es gibt viele Sehenswürdigkeiten in Berlin. – There are lots of sights in Berlin.

• Es gibt vier Personen in meiner Familie. – There are four people in my family.

When asking a question using es gibt, swap the verb and the subject around to ask Is there? or Are there?:

• Gibt es einen Dom hier? – Is there a cathedral here?

• Gibt es in Hamburg viel zu tun? – Is there a lot to do in Hamburg?

• Gibt es gute Geschäfte in deiner Stadt? – Are there (any) good shops in your town

Questions can also be formed using was:

• Was gibt es in Berlin zu tun? – What is there to do in Berlin?

• Was gibt es zum Frühstück? – What’s for breakfast?

When es gibt is used to talk about something which existed or happened in the past, the imperfect form es gab is used to say there was or there were.

Listen to the sentence in German, followed by the English translation.

Practise what you've learned about impersonal verbs with this quiz.