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Es gibt hier keine Gebühr.

Es gibt hier keine Gebühr.
There is no fee here.
FromLesson 21inHardcore German

Breakdown of Es gibt hier keine Gebühr.

hier
here
es
it
geben
to give
keine
no
die Gebühr
the fee

Questions & Answers about Es gibt hier keine Gebühr.

What does es gibt mean and how is it used in German?
es gibt literally translates to “it gives,” but it functions idiomatically as “there is” or “there are” in English. You use it to introduce the existence or availability of something. Grammatically, es is a dummy subject, gibt is the third-person singular of geben, and what follows is an accusative object naming what exists (or doesn’t exist, if you negate it).
Why is hier placed between es gibt and keine Gebühr?
In German, adverbials of place often follow the verb. After es gibt, it’s very common to slot in your place-indicator (“here,” “there,” “in Berlin,” etc.) before the thing you’re talking about. You could also invert and say Hier gibt es keine Gebühr, but the original order is fine and very natural.
Why is there no definite or indefinite article before Gebühr? Why do we use keine Gebühr?
When negating the existence of something, German uses the negative indefinite article kein rather than dropping the article or using the definite article. Here Gebühr is a feminine noun in the accusative case (as the object of es gibt), so kein takes the form keine. Hence keine Gebühr means “no fee.”
What case is keine Gebühr in, and how can I tell?
It’s in the accusative case because it’s the direct object of the verb geben (in es gibt). In German, the accusative feminine singular of kein is keine, and the noun Gebühr remains unchanged.
Why is Gebühr singular here? Could I say keine Gebühren instead?
Yes, you can use the plural Gebühren if you mean “there are no fees (of any kind).” Saying Es gibt hier keine Gebühr treats “fee” as a general concept (“there is no fee here”), while Es gibt hier keine Gebühren emphasizes there aren’t any multiple or specific fees.
Can’t I say Wir haben hier keine Gebühr instead of Es gibt hier keine Gebühr?
Technically, Wir haben hier keine Gebühr is understandable, but German prefers es gibt for impersonal existence statements. Saying wir haben would sound like “we don’t personally own or carry a fee,” which isn’t the standard way to announce that a service is free of charge.
Is it possible to use es sind instead of es gibt here?
No. Although es sind can appear when listing people or things at a location (e.g., Es sind alle da), you don’t use es sind to express “there is/are” in general. Always use es gibt (singular form) for that purpose.
How would you translate Es gibt hier keine Gebühr word-for-word into English?
A literal breakdown is “It gives here no fee.” Naturally, we render it in English as “There is no fee here.”
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“How do German cases work?”
German has four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object), and genitive (possession). The case determines the form of articles and adjectives. For example, "the dog" is "der Hund" as a subject but "den Hund" as a direct object.

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