Questions & Answers about Hier gibt es eine Bäckerei und ein Café.
Why is the word order gibt es instead of es gibt?
In German, the conjugated verb must always be the second element in a standard sentence. Because this sentence starts with the location word Hier, the verb gibt takes the second position, pushing the word es to the third position right after it.
I thought the verb geben means to give. Why does this sentence mean there is?
The phrase es gibt literally translates to 'it gives', but it is the standard German expression for 'there is' or 'there are'. It is a fixed phrase that acts differently from the regular verb geben.
Since es gibt requires the accusative case, why don't the words eine and ein change their endings?
They are actually in the accusative case here! However, only masculine words change their spelling for 'a' in the accusative case (becoming einen). For feminine words like Bäckerei and neuter words like Café, the accusative forms eine and ein look exactly the same as their basic nominative forms.