Breakdown of Das Wetter ist schlecht, und es regnet draußen.
sein
to be
es
it
und
and
das Wetter
the weather
Questions & Answers about Das Wetter ist schlecht, und es regnet draußen.
Why is the verb regnet the third word after the comma? Shouldn't the verb be in the second position?
It actually is in the second position! Coordinating conjunctions like und take up "Position 0" in a German sentence, meaning they don't count towards the word order. In the second clause, es is in Position 1, and the verb regnet stays safely in Position 2.
Could I change the order after the comma and say "... und draußen regnet es"?
Yes, absolutely! Because und is in Position 0, you can start the rest of the clause with the adverb draußen (Position 1). To keep the verb in Position 2, the subject es just has to move to the other side of the verb, making it "... und draußen regnet es".
Is the comma before und required here?
It is optional. In German, when und connects two complete sentences (both have their own subject and verb), you can use a comma to make the sentence easier to read, but you don't have to. You will often see it written simply as: Das Wetter ist schlecht und es regnet draußen.
Why does German use es (it) in es regnet? What exactly is "it"?
Just like in English when we say "it is raining," German uses es as a "dummy subject" for weather. Every complete German sentence needs a subject, but since no specific person or thing is actually doing the raining, we just use es to fill that required slot.