Questions & Answers about In diesem Zimmer ist es ruhig.
German almost always requires a subject, even when English would leave it out.
- In this sentence, es is a dummy subject (also called an expletive) – it doesn’t really “mean” anything.
- The real information is:
- Ort (place): in diesem Zimmer
- Zustand (state): ruhig
But German grammar wants:
- Something in the subject position
- A verb
- The rest of the information
So you get: In diesem Zimmer (first position) – ist (second) – es (subject in “middle” field) – ruhig.
You cannot say In diesem Zimmer ist ruhig; that sounds ungrammatical, like “In this room is quiet” without a subject. You need es.
Diesem is the dative singular neuter form of dies- (“this”).
- The noun Zimmer is:
- gender: neuter (das Zimmer)
- number: singular
- case: dative (because of the preposition in expressing location)
The declension of in the singular is: