A1 · 40 Wörter

Weather and the seasons

The one subject that is always available — and the verbs whose subject is nothing at all.

Weather verbs have no real subject and German supplies an empty es to fill the gap: es regnet, es schneit, es friert. English does exactly the same with "it", so the construction is familiar; what is new is that German requires the placeholder rather more strictly, and drops it again the moment another element takes the first position. Seasons and months are all masculine and take im: im Sommer, im Januar. That is a dative, contracted from in dem, and it is the same construction as im Zimmer — time being treated as a place you are inside.

Die Wörter

Verb (2)

regnento rainVerbA1

Es regnet seit gestern Abend.It has been raining since yesterday evening.

Only ever with "es" as its subject.

schneiento snowVerbA1

Heute Nacht hat es geschneit.It snowed last night.

Only with "es".

Adverb (1)

draußenoutside, outdoorsAdverbA1

Draußen ist es viel kälter.It is much colder outside.

Diese Liste gehört zu Nature, weather and living things — zwölf Listen und 480 Wörter, die sich auch am Stück abfragen lassen.

Diese Liste abfragen

Auswahl und Lücke, aus genau diesen 40 Wörtern. Was Sie falsch beantworten, kommt morgen wieder.