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pronoun

es

/ˈɛs/

"it" — the neuter third-person singular pronoun

Definitions

  1. 1

    Used as a subject or object pronoun referring to a neuter noun, thing, or animal

    “Das Kind spielt im Garten, es ist sehr glücklich.”

    The child is playing in the garden, it is very happy.

  2. 2

    Used as an impersonal/dummy subject with weather, time, and certain fixed expressions

    “Im Winter wird es hier oft sehr kalt und windig.”

    In winter it often gets very cold and windy here.

  3. 3

    Used as a placeholder subject before the real subject appears later in the sentence

    “Es kommen heute Abend viele Gäste zu unserer Feier.”

    There are many guests coming to our party this evening.

  4. 4

    Used to refer back to a previously mentioned idea, fact, or situation

    “Er hat die Prüfung bestanden, aber niemand glaubt es wirklich.”

    He passed the exam, but nobody really believes it.

Word forms

Gender
neuter
Usage
Only used in singular; corresponds to 'it' and has no plural form of its own (plural 'they' is 'sie').

Very common and essential in everyday German; often required grammatically even when it has no real meaning, as in weather expressions like "es regnet" (it is raining).