geben means "to give," but its most important job in German is the existential construction es gibt — "there is / there are." This construction breaks two English habits at once: it is invariable (always es gibt, never es geben, even with plurals), and it governs the accusative, not the nominative. Beyond the existential, geben anchors a cluster of high-frequency idioms — Bescheid geben, sich Mühe geben, das gibt's doch nicht! This page covers the special grammar of es gibt and the idioms that ride on it.
es gibt: invariable and accusative
English "there is/are" agrees with what follows: there *is a park, there **are people. German refuses to agree. *es gibt stays frozen whether the thing that exists is singular or plural, because es is the grammatical subject and gibt agrees with es (third person singular). What follows is the direct object — hence the accusative.
In unserer Stadt gibt es einen großen Park.
There's a big park in our town.
Auf dem Markt gibt es heute frische Erdbeeren.
There are fresh strawberries at the market today.
Look at the first example: einen is accusative masculine. English speakers reflexively reach for the nominative ein (as if it were a subject) — that is the number-one error here. The thing that "exists" is what is being given, grammatically, so it is the object.
Gibt es noch Fragen, oder können wir anfangen?
Are there any more questions, or can we start?
Früher gab es hier kein Internet.
There used to be no internet here.
es gibt vs es ist / es sind
Both can render "there is," but they are not interchangeable. es gibt asserts general existence — that something exists at all, somewhere, in the world or in a place described loosely. es ist / es sind points to specific presence at a definite spot, and it agrees in number.
| Construction | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| es gibt + accusative | general existence (invariable) | Es gibt viele Cafés in Berlin. |
| es ist / es sind + nominative | specific, located presence (agrees) | Es sind drei Leute im Raum. |
Es gibt viele Cafés in Berlin, aber heute sind drei davon geschlossen.
There are many cafés in Berlin, but three of them are closed today.
The first clause states that cafés exist in general (es gibt + accusative viele Cafés); the second pins down a specific count at a specific time, agreeing in the plural (sind). When you mean "X exists / is available," default to es gibt.
geben idioms with the dative
Because geben is literally "give," many idioms keep a recipient in the dative:
Bescheid geben — "to let (someone) know," to inform. Hugely common in arranging things.
Sag mir Bescheid, wenn du angekommen bist.
Let me know when you've arrived.
jdm recht geben — "to agree with someone," literally "give someone right."
Da muss ich dir recht geben — das war keine gute Idee.
I have to agree with you there — that wasn't a good idea.
jdm die Hand geben — "to shake hands with someone":
Zur Begrüßung gab er allen die Hand.
He shook everyone's hand in greeting.
Reflexive and action idioms
sich Mühe geben — "to make an effort, take pains" (reflexive, with the capitalised noun Mühe):
Sie hat sich große Mühe gegeben, alles rechtzeitig fertig zu machen.
She made a big effort to get everything done in time.
sich geschlagen geben — "to admit defeat, give up":
Nach drei Stunden gab ich mich geschlagen.
After three hours I admitted defeat.
And the action idioms that need no recipient:
- Gas geben — "step on it / get a move on" (literally "give gas/throttle").
- ein Konzert / eine Party geben — "to give (hold) a concert / a party."
- acht geben (auf + acc) — "to watch out / pay attention to."
Gib Gas, sonst verpassen wir den Anfang!
Step on it, or we'll miss the start!
Gib acht auf die Stufe, sie ist glatt.
Watch out for the step, it's slippery.
das gibt's doch nicht! and other es-gibt exclamations
Here is the cluster competitors skip. es gibt powers some of the most frequent spoken exclamations:
Das gibt's doch nicht! — "No way! / I don't believe it!" A fixed cry of disbelief or indignation (literally "that doesn't exist").
Schon wieder kein Strom? Das gibt's doch nicht!
No power again? You've got to be kidding!
Was gibt's (Neues)? — "What's up? / What's new?", a casual greeting-question.
Hallo! Lange nicht gesehen — was gibt's Neues bei dir?
Hi! Long time no see — what's new with you?
Es gibt gleich Essen — "food's almost ready," the everyday "es gibt" of meals; and es gibt + weather, "we're getting (weather)":
Wasch dir die Hände, es gibt gleich Essen.
Wash your hands, dinner's almost ready.
Zieh eine Jacke an, heute gibt es Regen.
Put on a jacket, it's going to rain today.
Common Mistakes
❌ Es gibt ein guter Grund dafür.
Wrong — Grund is masculine and is the object, so it needs accusative: einen guten Grund.
✅ Es gibt einen guten Grund dafür.
There's a good reason for it.
❌ Es geben viele Leute auf der Party.
Wrong — es gibt never pluralises, even with a plural object.
✅ Es gibt viele Leute auf der Party.
There are lots of people at the party.
❌ Ich gebe dir Bescheid wenn ich weiß. (no object)
Acceptable, but learners often drop the noun: it's the fixed 'Bescheid geben'.
✅ Ich gebe dir Bescheid, sobald ich es weiß.
I'll let you know as soon as I know.
❌ Das ist doch nicht! (as 'no way!')
Wrong — the disbelief exclamation is the fixed es-gibt phrase.
✅ Das gibt's doch nicht!
No way! / I can't believe it!
Key Takeaways
- es gibt is invariable (never es geben) and takes the accusative: Es gibt einen Park / viele Leute.
- Read it as "it gives X" to remember that X is an object → accusative, and that es stays singular.
- Use es gibt for general existence; use es ist / es sind for specific, located presence (and it agrees in number).
- High-frequency idioms: Bescheid geben (let know), sich Mühe geben (make an effort), recht geben (agree), Gas geben (step on it).
- Das gibt's doch nicht! is the fixed exclamation of disbelief.
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- geben: Full Conjugation and UsageA1 — Complete conjugation of geben 'to give' across every tense and mood, including the e→i stem change, the crucial 'es gibt' construction, dative-plus-accusative valency, and the errors English speakers make.
- es gibt and Impersonal ConstructionsA2 — Why German says es gibt for 'there is/are' with the accusative and no plural, when to use es ist/es sind instead, and how impersonal es behaves.
- Impersonal Verbs and es-SubjectsB1 — Verbs that take the dummy subject es, and why German says 'to me it is cold' instead of 'I am cold.'
- Expressions with machenA2 — The do-it-all verb machen and its dozens of fixed idioms — from Pause machen to Das macht nichts and Mach's gut.
- Expressions with habenA2 — Why German 'has' hunger, fear, and luck — the systematic haben-for-be pattern that trips up every English speaker.
- Interjections and Emotive ExclamationsB1 — The German sounds of emotion — Au! for pain, Igitt! for disgust, Nanu! for puzzled surprise, Oje! for dismay — and the euphemistic outbursts (Mensch!, Mist!) that stand in for stronger swearing.