Breakdown of Es ist kalt und wir rutschen auf dem Eis.
sein
to be
es
it
und
and
wir
we
kalt
cold
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
das Eis
the ice
rutschen
to slide
Questions & Answers about Es ist kalt und wir rutschen auf dem Eis.
Why is it auf dem Eis (dative) and not auf das Eis (accusative) since sliding is a movement?
Even though sliding (rutschen) is an active movement, the action is happening entirely within one location (on top of the ice). Auf is a two-way preposition. Because we aren't moving from somewhere else onto the ice (which would be a change of destination taking the accusative), we use the dative case to show where the ongoing action takes place.
What is the difference between rutschen and ausrutschen?
Rutschen means to slide, which can be a continuous motion or even intentional. Ausrutschen is a separable verb that means to slip accidentally. If you wanted to say that you accidentally lost your footing, you would use the separable verb and say wir rutschen auf dem Eis aus.
Could I say mir ist kalt instead of es ist kalt in this sentence?
You could, but it changes the meaning! Es ist kalt describes the general environment or weather, explaining why there is ice. If you say mir ist kalt, you are using the dative case to describe your own personal physical sensation (literally 'to me it is cold').
Why doesn't the verb move to the end of the sentence after und?
The word und is a coordinating conjunction. It links two standard main clauses without affecting the word order of the second one. Grammatically, und sits in position zero, so the subject (wir) takes position 1 and the verb (rutschen) stays safely in position 2.
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