Breakdown of Es fängt an zu regnen, aber wir hören nicht auf zu lachen.
lachen
to laugh
wir
we
nicht
not
aber
but
es
it
regnen
to rain
aufhören
to stop
anfangen
to begin
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Questions & Answers about Es fängt an zu regnen, aber wir hören nicht auf zu lachen.
Why is the es used as the subject in Es fängt an zu regnen?
In German, weather verbs such as regnen do not have a concrete subject. The pronoun es serves as a dummy subject—much like the English “it” in “it rains”—to fulfill the grammatical requirement for a subject.
How does the construction fängt an zu regnen work in this sentence?
The verb anfangen (“to begin”) is conjugated to agree with the subject es. It requires an infinitive clause with zu to indicate what action is beginning—in this case, regnen (“to rain”). So, Es fängt an zu regnen literally means “It begins to rain.”
What is the role of separable verb components in wir hören nicht auf zu lachen?
The verb aufhören (“to stop”) is a separable prefix verb. When used with an infinitive clause, the prefix auf stays attached to the zu marker, forming auf zu lachen. Here, hören is conjugated to match wir (“we”), and the full construction expresses that “we do not stop laughing.”
Why is there a comma before aber in the sentence?
The comma separates two independent clauses. Es fängt an zu regnen and wir hören nicht auf zu lachen are each complete thoughts, so a comma is used before the coordinating conjunction aber (“but”) to clearly mark the boundary between them.
Where does the negation nicht apply in wir hören nicht auf zu lachen, and why is it placed there?
In this sentence, nicht negates the verb phrase aufhören zu lachen as a whole. German word order places the negation immediately after the conjugated verb hören. This position clarifies that it is not the act of laughing itself that is negated—it’s the act of stopping the laughter that does not occur.
Why are the zu infinitive phrases (i.e. zu regnen and zu lachen) positioned at the end of their respective clauses?
German sentence structure typically positions zu infinitive phrases at the end of a clause, especially in constructions with modal or semi-modal verbs like anfangen and aufhören. This placement is a standard rule of German syntax, ensuring that the finite (conjugated) verb takes the second position and additional verb components appear at the clause’s end.