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Questions & Answers about Es ist das Kind.
Why do we use das for the child instead of der or die?
In German, every noun has a grammatical gender. The word Kind is neuter, so it takes the neuter article das. It does not matter if the actual child is a boy or a girl; the word itself is always neuter.
If I know the child is a girl, can I use sie instead of es?
Grammatically, you should use es. Pronouns in German match the grammatical gender of the word they replace. Since Kind is a neuter noun, you use the neuter pronoun es to refer to it, regardless of the child's actual gender.
Is ist only used with es?
No, ist is the form of the verb sein (to be) for all third-person singular subjects. You will use ist with er (he), sie (she), and es (it).
Why is the word Kind capitalized in the middle of the sentence?
In German, all nouns (words for people, places, things, or ideas) must be capitalized no matter where they appear in a sentence. Since Kind is a noun, it starts with a capital K.