Breakdown of Leider gibt es hier keinen Supermarkt.
es
it
hier
here
kein
no, not any
leider
unfortunately
geben
to give
der Supermarkt
the supermarket
es gibt
there is / there are
Questions & Answers about Leider gibt es hier keinen Supermarkt.
Why does the sentence say gibt es instead of es gibt?
In German statements, the verb must always be in the second position. Because this sentence starts with the word Leider (unfortunately), the verb gibt has to come right after it. This pushes the word es into the third position.
Why do we use keinen with an -en ending here?
The phrase es gibt always requires the accusative case (the form used for direct objects). Because Supermarkt is a masculine noun (der Supermarkt), the negative word kein must take the masculine accusative ending -en.
Could I use nicht instead of keinen here?
Not in this case. When you want to say 'not a' or 'no' directly before a noun, you must use a form of kein. The word nicht is generally used to negate verbs or adjectives, rather than nouns.
What is the literal translation of es gibt?
It literally translates to 'it gives'. While that might sound strange in English, it is the completely normal and standard way to say 'there is' or 'there are' in German.
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