Breakdown of Ob es regnet, ist dem Hochzeitsplaner egal.
sein
to be
es
it
regnen
to rain
ob
whether / if
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
egal
all the same, not mattering
der Hochzeitsplaner
the wedding planner
Questions & Answers about Ob es regnet, ist dem Hochzeitsplaner egal.
Why does the verb ist come right after the comma?
The entire clause Ob es regnet acts as the subject of the sentence, taking up Position 1. In German main clauses, the conjugated verb must always come in Position 2, so ist directly follows the subject clause.
Shouldn't there be an es before or after ist, like ist es dem Hochzeitsplaner egal?
The subject of the sentence is the whole clause Ob es regnet. You only use the placeholder es as a dummy subject if the main clause comes first, as in Es ist dem Hochzeitsplaner egal, ob es regnet. When you put the subject clause in Position 1, that dummy es drops out completely.
Why is it dem Hochzeitsplaner in the dative case?
The German expression for 'not matter to someone' or 'be all the same to someone' is jemandem egal sein. The person who doesn't care takes the dative case. Because Hochzeitsplaner is a masculine noun, it uses the dative article dem.
Could I add a pointing word like das after the comma?
Yes! Saying Ob es regnet, das ist dem Hochzeitsplaner egal is very common, especially in spoken German. The demonstrative pronoun das acts as a summarizing subject in Position 1, but the overall meaning stays exactly the same.
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