es ist
In German, the phrase "it is" is expressed as es ist.
es ist is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb to be, used specifically with the neutral pronoun es.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase consists of es, meaning "it" and ist, which is the third-person singular form of the verb sein (to be).
How does it change in a sentence?
While es ist is used for singular subjects, if the subject following es is plural, the verb must change to es sind.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use es ist to refer to people or specific objects with a grammatical gender. In these cases, you must use the specific gendered pronouns er (he) or sie (she) instead of the neutral es.
Did you know?
- If you are talking about a 'Girl' (das Mädchen), you must use es ist because the word is grammatically neutral, even though the person is female.
- Although es ist and the English 'it is' share an ancestor, they are not direct twins. The English 'it' descends from the Proto-Germanic *hit, while the German es comes from *it.
- In colloquial spoken German, es ist is often shortened to 's ist. For example, es ist schon spät frequently becomes 's ist schon spät in casual conversation.
Examples in context
- Es ist zu spät.It is too late.Tatoeba #851592 by Esperantostern, translation #456133 by lukaszpp
- Es ist da oben.It is up there.Tatoeba #10097619 by wolfgangth, translation #7911376 by CK
- Es ist ein Buch.It is a book.Tatoeba #582667 by samueldora, translation #42097 by CK
- Es ist ein schöner Tag.It is a beautiful day.
- Es ist wichtig, pünktlich zu sein.It is important to be punctual.
- Es ist mir eine Freude, Sie kennenzulernen.It is a pleasure to meet you.
- Das ist unser neues Produkt.This is our new product.
- Das ist der Vertrag, den wir besprechen müssen.This is the contract we need to discuss.
- Das ist eine interessante Frage.This is an interesting question.
- Es ist passiert.It happened.
- Es ist Montag.It is Monday.
- Es ist Juni.It is June.
- Es ist sonnig.It is sunny.
- Es ist kalt draußen.It is cold outside.
- Es regnet.It is raining.
- 1106 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sarah and Felix are looking at a gift on a table.
- SarahSchau mal, Felix, es ist ein Geschenk!Look, Felix, it is a gift!
- FelixWirklich? Es ist sehr groß.Really? It is very big.
- SarahJa, es ist von deiner Schwester.Yes, it is from your sister.
- FelixDas ist eine tolle Überraschung.That is a great surprise.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries es, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
