Breakdown of Einerseits gibt es viel Nektar, andererseits regnet es oft.
es
it
oft
often
viel
much / a lot
regnen
to rain
es gibt
there is / there are
einerseits
on the one hand
andererseits
on the other hand
der Nektar
the nectar
Questions & Answers about Einerseits gibt es viel Nektar, andererseits regnet es oft.
Why are the verbs gibt and regnet placed immediately after Einerseits and andererseits?
Both einerseits and andererseits are adverbs, not conjunctions. When you put them at the beginning of a clause, they take up the first position. In German main clauses, the verb must always take the second position. Therefore, the verbs gibt and regnet must come immediately after these adverbs, pushing the subject (es) to the third position.
Can I put einerseits and andererseits somewhere else in the sentence, or do they have to be at the beginning?
You don't have to put them at the beginning. They can also go in the middle of the clause, usually right after the conjugated verb and the subject. For example, you could say: Es gibt einerseits viel Nektar, es regnet andererseits oft. Putting them at the very beginning of the clauses just strongly emphasizes the contrast.
Do I always have to use einerseits and andererseits together in the exact same sentence?
Not necessarily. While they are a pair, you will often see andererseits used on its own at the beginning of a new sentence to contradict or balance something said in a previous sentence. For example: Es gibt viel Nektar. Andererseits regnet es oft. You can also drop einerseits completely if the first point is already understood to be one side of an argument.
A quick refresher: why do we use gibt es to mean 'there is' here?
In German, the fixed phrase es gibt (literally 'it gives') is the standard way to express that something exists, translating to 'there is' or 'there are' in English. Because Einerseits takes position 1 in this clause, the verb and subject swap places to keep the verb in position 2, making it gibt es. Also remember that es gibt always takes a direct object in the accusative case, which is why we have viel Nektar here.
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