Breakdown of Auf dem Markt gibt es frische Äpfel.
der Apfel
the apple
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
es gibt
there is / there are
der Markt
the market
frisch
fresh
Questions & Answers about Auf dem Markt gibt es frische Äpfel.
Why does frische end in -e here?
Because Äpfel is a plural noun with no article in front of it (a zero article). The phrase gibt es requires the accusative case for the thing that exists. For plural nouns in the accusative case with no article, the adjective ending is -e, so frisch becomes frische.
Wait, if es is the subject, what case is frische Äpfel?
It is in the accusative case! The phrase es gibt (literally it gives, but meaning there is or there are) always takes a direct object in German. That means whatever exists must be accusative. Conveniently, for plural nouns with no article, the accusative adjective ending is -e, which looks exactly like the nominative.
Why do we use the dative dem in Auf dem Markt?
The word auf is a two-way preposition. It takes the dative case when describing a fixed location (answering where?) and the accusative case when describing movement to a new destination (answering where to?). Since the apples are already at the market, it is a fixed location, so we use the dative dem Markt.
Why is the word order gibt es instead of es gibt?
In German statements, the conjugated verb must always be in the second position. Because we started the sentence with the location phrase Auf dem Markt (occupying position 1), the verb gibt must take position 2. This pushes the subject es into the third position, right after the verb.
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