Questions & Answers about Zum Glück regnet es nicht.
Why is the word order regnet es instead of es regnet?
Because the phrase Zum Glück (luckily) takes up the first position in the sentence. In German, the verb must always take the second position (the V2 rule). So, the verb regnet comes second, and the subject es is pushed to the third position. You use this exact same word order trick with connector words like deshalb or darum.
Where does the Zum in Zum Glück come from?
Zum is a contraction of the preposition zu and the dative article dem. The noun Glück (luck) is neuter (das Glück). Because the preposition zu always forces the following word into the dative case, das changes to dem. Zu dem then shortens to zum.
Why is there no German equivalent to "is ... -ing" in this sentence?
German doesn't have a present continuous tense. The single verb form regnet covers both "rains" and "is raining". You rely on the context to know which one makes sense in English.
Why does nicht go at the very end of this sentence?
When you negate the main action of a sentence (the verb itself), nicht usually gets pushed to the end of the clause. It is essentially saying "It is raining not."
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