Breakdown of Mit Fleiß kannst du es weit bringen.
du
you (informal singular)
es
it
weit
far / wide, vast
bringen
to bring
Questions & Answers about Mit Fleiß kannst du es weit bringen.
What does the es stand for in es weit bringen?
In this sentence, es is a "dummy object." It doesn't replace a specific noun from a previous sentence. Instead, it is a permanent, fixed part of the phrase es weit bringen (to become successful / to go far in life). You will see this empty es in several other German idioms, such as es eilig haben (to be in a hurry).
Why does bringen translate to "go" instead of "bring" here?
Because es weit bringen is a fixed idiom that you can't translate word-for-word. While bringen literally means "to bring", the full expression means "to achieve success." Where English speakers say you can "go far" in life, German speakers say you can "bring it far."
Why are the verb and subject inverted to kannst du instead of du kannst?
This is a quick refresher on the German V2 (verb-second) rule. Because the sentence starts with the prepositional phrase Mit Fleiß in position one, the conjugated verb kannst must take position two. This naturally pushes the subject du into position three.
What is the connection between Fleiß and the word fleißig?