Breakdown of Die Chance ist klein, aber sie ist da.
sein
to be
klein
small
aber
but
da
there
die Chance
the chance, the opportunity
Questions & Answers about Die Chance ist klein, aber sie ist da.
Why does the sentence use sie if we translate it as 'it' in English?
In German, pronouns have to match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. Because die Chance is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine pronoun sie to refer back to it, even though we would just say 'it' in English.
Does sie ist da literally mean 'it is located over there'?
It can in other situations, but here the phrase da sein means 'to exist' or 'to be present'. So sie ist da translates naturally to 'it is there' in the sense of 'it still exists'.
Why doesn't the word aber change the word order of the second half of the sentence?
aber is a coordinating conjunction, often called a 'position zero' word. It connects two main clauses but does not take up the first position in the second clause. Therefore, the second clause keeps the normal word order: subject (sie) followed directly by the conjugated verb (ist).
Since Chance is spelled exactly like the English word, do we pronounce it the English way?
No, die Chance is a loanword from French. It is pronounced with a 'sh' sound at the beginning and usually a slightly nasal ending, keeping its French flavor rather than sounding like standard German or English.
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