Breakdown of Gibt es einen Supermarkt neben dem Hotel?
ein
a, an (eine)
es
it
das Hotel
the hotel
geben
to give
der Supermarkt
the supermarket
neben
next to
es gibt
there is / there are
Questions & Answers about Gibt es einen Supermarkt neben dem Hotel?
Why does the sentence use Gibt es instead of Ist da to mean "Is there"?
In German, the fixed phrase es gibt is used to say "there is" or "there are" when talking about the existence or availability of something. To make it a question, you just swap the verb and pronoun to get gibt es.
Why is it einen Supermarkt and not ein Supermarkt?
The phrase es gibt always requires the noun that follows it to be in the accusative case. Since Supermarkt is a masculine noun (der Supermarkt), the word for "a" changes from ein to einen.
Why does the sentence say dem Hotel instead of das Hotel?
The word neben (next to) is a two-way preposition. Because we are asking about a fixed location (where is the supermarket?), we must use the dative case. The hotel is a neuter noun (das Hotel), and in the dative case, das changes to dem.
Could neben ever use the accusative case when talking about the supermarket?
Not when talking about a building's location! Two-way prepositions only use the accusative when describing a movement into a new space (answering "where to?"). Since a supermarket doesn't move, its location is fixed, so neben must take the dative case.
Learn Gibt es einen Supermarkt neben dem Hotel and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free