Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### Impersonal Obligation with *es gilt*

In formal or professional contexts, such as managing a busy grape harvest (*die Weinlese*), you can express necessary tasks or challenges using the impersonal phrase **es gilt**.

{{item:884810}}

This structure translates roughly to "it is necessary to", "the task is to", or "the challenge is to". It is followed by an infinitive clause using **zu** + [infinitive].

{{item:884812}}

{{item:884832}}

### Word Order and Verb Forms

The phrase *es gilt* functions as a standard main clause. This means if you start the sentence with a dependent clause (like a *wenn* clause), the conjugated verb (*gilt*) must stay in the second position, directly after the comma, resulting in the inverted order *gilt es*.

{{item:884816}}

If the infinitive verb is a separable verb, the **zu** is tucked directly between the separable prefix and the verb stem, written together as a single word.

{{item:884818}}

Finally, if the necessary task involves multiple verbs, you can combine them using *und*. Just remember to apply **zu** to each infinitive.

{{item:884824}}

Impersonal obligation (es gilt, ... zu)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the grape harvest	die Weinlese
it is necessary to (in 'es gilt, ... zu')	es gilt, ... zu
swift	rasch
Now the grape harvest is starting, and it is necessary to work swiftly.	Jetzt fängt die Weinlese an, und es gilt, rasch zu arbeiten.
the winemaker	der Winzer
the vineyard	der Weinberg
careful (meticulous, thorough)	sorgfältig
When the winemaker is in the vineyard, it is necessary to check the grapes carefully.	Wenn der Winzer im Weinberg ist, gilt es, die Trauben sorgfältig zu prüfen.
the vine	die Rebe
The challenge is to carefully sort out every sick vine in the vineyard.	Es gilt, jede kranke Rebe im Weinberg sorgfältig auszusortieren.
to press (squeeze, compress)	pressen
When the grapes are ripe, it is necessary to press them swiftly.	Wenn die Trauben reif sind, gilt es, sie rasch zu pressen.
the barrel	das Fass
to store	lagern
to monitor	überwachen
The task is to store the barrel in the cellar and monitor it carefully.	Es gilt, das Fass im Keller zu lagern und sorgfältig zu überwachen.
We got up early today, for it is necessary to harvest the grapes swiftly.	Wir sind heute früh aufgestanden, denn es gilt, die Trauben rasch zu ernten.
The task is to store the wine and wait for it to become perfect.	Es gilt, den Wein zu lagern und darauf zu warten, dass er perfekt wird.
My colleague drove to the vineyard, because it is necessary to repair the machine.	Mein Kollege ist in den Weinberg gefahren, denn es gilt, die Maschine zu reparieren.
When the winemaker presses the grapes, it is necessary to work carefully.	Wenn der Winzer die Trauben presst, gilt es, sorgfältig zu arbeiten.
The grape harvest is exhausting, but the challenge is not to give up.	Die Weinlese ist anstrengend, aber es gilt, nicht aufzugeben.
The vine is very old, and it is necessary to care for it well.	Die Rebe ist sehr alt, und es gilt, sie gut zu pflegen.
One must not store the grapes; rather, it is necessary to press them swiftly.	Man darf die Trauben nicht lagern, sondern es gilt, sie rasch zu pressen.
It is necessary to monitor the barrel carefully.	Es gilt, das Fass sorgfältig zu überwachen.