Question 1

Why does this sentence start with Auf einmal instead of the subject es?

Accepted Answer

Auf einmal is a fixed phrase meaning 'all of a sudden'. In German, you can put time phrases like this in the first position to set the scene. Because the verb must stay in the strict second position, the conjugated verb hat comes right after it, pushing the subject es to the third position.

Question 2

Auf einmal literally translates to 'on once'. Is it used differently than plötzlich?

Accepted Answer

They mean exactly the same thing ('suddenly') and are practically interchangeable. Auf einmal is just a very common, idiomatic way to express it, especially in everyday spoken German.

Question 3

Why is the past participle of anfangen formed as angefangen?

Accepted Answer

The verb anfangen (to start) is a separable verb. When forming the past participle for the perfect tense, the -ge- prefix gets sandwiched directly between the separable prefix an- and the main verb fangen.

Question 4

Why is there a zu in front of regnen?

Accepted Answer

Just like in English ('started to rain'), the verb anfangen requires an infinitive verb with zu when you want to express that a specific action is beginning. This creates a basic infinitive clause.

Question 5

I learned that infinitive clauses with zu usually need a comma before them. Why is there no comma before zu regnen?

Accepted Answer

In modern German, the comma before a zu infinitive is optional if the clause is very short. Because this clause consists of just the words zu regnen, the comma is almost always left out. If you added more description, like angefangen, sehr stark zu regnen (started to rain very heavily), a comma would be expected.

Auf einmal hat es angefangen zu regnen.

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