Breakdown of Im Weltall ist es am dunkelsten.
sein
to be
es
it
dunkel
dark
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
Questions & Answers about Im Weltall ist es am dunkelsten.
How do we form the superlative 'the darkest' in this sentence?
To say 'the [adjective]-est' in German when it stands on its own (not directly in front of a noun), we use am followed by the adjective with -sten added to the end. Here, the base adjective is dunkel (dark), so it becomes am dunkelsten (the darkest).
I remember that dunkel drops an 'e' sometimes. Why is the 'e' still there in am dunkelsten?
Good memory! Adjectives ending in -el like dunkel drop their e in the comparative form (dunkler - darker). However, they keep that e in the superlative form. So the pattern is: dunkel, dunkler, am dunkelsten.
Why is the verb before the subject here (ist es instead of es ist)?
This is because of the German 'verb second' rule. The phrase Im Weltall (In space) takes up the first position in the sentence. The verb (ist) must come exactly second, which pushes the subject (es) to the third position.
Why does the sentence start with Im instead of just In?