Breakdown of Hier gibt es viel Brot und sehr viel Käse.
es
it
und
and
hier
here
sehr
very
viel
much / a lot
geben
to give
das Brot
the bread
der Käse
the cheese
es gibt
there is / there are
Questions & Answers about Hier gibt es viel Brot und sehr viel Käse.
Why do we say sehr viel Käse and not just sehr Käse?
Sehr means "very" and is used to make adjectives stronger (like "very good"). Viel means "much" or "a lot" and is used with nouns (like bread and cheese). Since cheese is a noun, we must use viel. To say "a whole lot," we combine them into sehr viel (literally "very much").
Could I say viele Brot instead of viel Brot?
No, because Brot (bread) is treated as an uncountable noun here, like water or money. We use viel (much/a lot) for uncountable nouns. If you were talking about things you can count individually, like apples or cars, you would use viele (many).
Why is the word order gibt es instead of es gibt?
In German statements, the verb must almost always be the second idea in the sentence. Because this sentence starts with the location Hier (Here), the verb gibt has to come immediately after it to stay in the number two spot. The word es is then pushed to the other side of the verb.
Doesn't the verb geben mean "to give"? Why does the translation say "there is"?
Yes, geben usually means "to give." However, the specific fixed phrase es gibt (literally "it gives") is the standard German expression for "there is" or "there are." It is always used this way to state that something exists.
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