Breakdown of Es gibt vier Jahreszeiten.
vier
four
es gibt
there is / there are
die Jahreszeit
the season (of the year)
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Questions & Answers about Es gibt vier Jahreszeiten.
Why use Es gibt for "There are"? Shouldn't it be plural?
How is the word Jahreszeiten put together?
It is a classic German compound noun! It combines Jahr (year) and Zeiten (times, plural of Zeit), connected by an -es- in the middle. Literally, it means "times of the year".
What is the singular form of Jahreszeiten?
The singular form is die Jahreszeit (the season). In German compound nouns, the gender always comes from the very last word. Because it ends in die Zeit, which is feminine, the whole word is feminine.
Doesn't es gibt normally change the case of the words that follow it?
Yes, es gibt always requires the accusative case! However, for plural words like vier Jahreszeiten, the accusative form looks exactly the same as the basic nominative form. Because of this, it doesn't visibly change.