Learn German: Was gibt es hier? - What is there here?

In German, when you start a question with a question word like Was (What), the verb must take the second spot in the sentence. The verb gibt comes right after Was, which forces the subject es to slide into the third position.

Literally, doesn't Was gibt es hier? mean 'What gives it here?'?

Yes, exactly! The phrase es gibt literally translates to 'it gives', but German uses this fixed expression to mean 'there is' or 'there are'. It is the standard way to ask if something exists or is available in a location.

This lesson is about es gibt taking the accusative case. Where is the accusative word in this sentence?

The accusative object here is actually the question word Was (What). Because you are asking to find out what 'is there', the word 'What' acts as the target or object of the phrase es gibt.

How would I answer this question?

To answer, you flip the phrase back to standard statement word order. For example, you could say Hier gibt es einen Apfel (There is an apple here), where einen Apfel takes the accusative case ending because it follows es gibt.