Questions & Answers about Gibt es eine Torte?
Why does it say Gibt es to mean 'Is there'?
In German, the phrase es gibt is the standard way to say 'there is' or 'there are'. Literally, it translates to 'it gives'. To ask a yes/no question ('is there?'), you just swap the verb and subject to make it gibt es.
Why is the verb Gibt at the very beginning of the sentence?
Just like in English, German moves the verb to the front to form a yes/no question. The normal statement is Es gibt eine Torte (There is a cake), so the question becomes Gibt es eine Torte? (Is there a cake?).
Is eine Torte in the nominative or accusative case here?
It is in the accusative case! The phrase es gibt always requires the accusative case for the thing that exists. Because Torte is a feminine noun, the accusative word for 'a' is eine, which happens to look exactly the same as the basic nominative form.
Does gibt es change if we are asking about multiple cakes?
I learned the word Kuchen for cake. What is a ?