Breakdown of Gibt es viele Planeten im Weltall?
viel
much / a lot
es gibt
there is / there are
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
der Planet
the planet
das Weltall
the universe
Questions & Answers about Gibt es viele Planeten im Weltall?
Why does the sentence use Gibt es to mean 'Are there'?
Gibt es is the inverted question form of es gibt, a fixed phrase that translates to 'there is' or 'there are'. Even though geben literally means 'to give', es gibt is the standard way to express that something exists.
Why do we say im Weltall instead of just in Weltall?
im is a contraction of the preposition in and the dative definite article dem. Weltall (universe) is a neuter noun (das Weltall). Because the question asks about a fixed location (where something is, rather than where it is moving to), in requires the dative case, changing das to dem.
Why does viel have an -e at the end in this sentence?
When referring to countable plural nouns, viel (much/a lot) takes plural endings. Because Planeten (planets) is plural, the word becomes viele (many).
What is the singular form of Planeten?
The singular is der Planet. It adds an -en to form the plural die Planeten. Planet is also a 'weak masculine noun' (often called n-declension), which means it also adds an -en ending in most singular cases, except for the basic subject (nominative) case!
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