Er ist Arzt, das heißt er arbeitet im Krankenhaus.
He is a doctor, that is, he works in the hospital.
Breakdown of Er ist Arzt, das heißt er arbeitet im Krankenhaus.
sein
to be
arbeiten
to work
in
in
der Arzt
the doctor
das Krankenhaus
the hospital
das heißt
that is (to say)
Questions & Answers about Er ist Arzt, das heißt er arbeitet im Krankenhaus.
Why is there no word for "a" before Arzt?
In German, when you state someone's profession, nationality, or role using the verb sein (to be) or werden (to become), you usually drop the indefinite article. You just say Er ist Arzt instead of Er ist ein Arzt.
What exactly does das heißt mean in this context?
das heißt literally translates to "that means", but it is the standard German phrase for "that is to say" or "meaning". You will often see it abbreviated as d.h. in written German, which functions exactly like the English abbreviation "i.e.".
Why doesn't das heißt change the word order of the clause that follows it?
The phrase das heißt acts like a complete, standalone mini-sentence. The part that follows it is treated as a brand-new main clause, so it uses standard word order with the verb in the second position: the subject er, then the verb arbeitet.
Why do we use im Krankenhaus here instead of in das Krankenhaus?
The word im is a contraction of in dem. The preposition in is a two-way preposition. Because the sentence describes a fixed location where an action happens (where he is working) rather than movement towards a destination, it requires the dative case. The neuter noun das Krankenhaus changes to dem Krankenhaus in the dative, giving us in dem, which shrinks to im.
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