Breakdown of Es ist entspannend, den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser zu beobachten.
Questions & Answers about Es ist entspannend, den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser zu beobachten.
In this sentence „Es“ is a dummy/placeholder subject, similar to “It is relaxing to …” in English.
- „Es ist entspannend, …“ = It is relaxing to …
- You are not referring to a specific “it”; the whole action (watching the sunset over the water) is what is relaxing.
- „Das ist entspannend.“ would mean “That is relaxing.”, referring to something already mentioned or visible.
So „Es ist …, den Sonnenuntergang … zu beobachten“ is the normal structure for “It is [adjective] to do X” in German.
Here „entspannend“ is a predicative adjective / participle used after the verb „sein“ (to be):
- Es ist entspannend. – It is relaxing.
In this position, German adjectives do not take endings. They stay in their base form:
- Das ist schön. (not schöne)
- Die Aufgabe ist schwierig. (not schwierige)
- Es ist entspannend.
You only add endings when the adjective directly comes before a noun:
- ein entspannender Abend (a relaxing evening)
- eine entspannende Tätigkeit (a relaxing activity)
The part „den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser zu beobachten“ is an infinitive clause (a zu + infinitive construction functioning like “to watch …”).
In German, such a clause is usually separated by a comma when:
- it’s longer and has its own objects/adverbs, or
- it depends on an adjective like „entspannend“.
So:
- Es ist entspannend, den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser zu beobachten. ✅
- Leaving out the comma here is considered incorrect in standard written German.
„Sonnenuntergang“ is:
- masculine: der Sonnenuntergang (dictionary form, nominative singular)
- But here it is the direct object (the thing being watched).
Direct objects take the accusative, so:
- Ich beobachte den Sonnenuntergang. – I watch the sunset.
- In the infinitive clause: den Sonnenuntergang … zu beobachten
Forms:
- Nominative: der Sonnenuntergang
- Accusative: den Sonnenuntergang
The preposition „über“ can take either dative or accusative, depending on the meaning:
- Accusative = movement towards / over to a place
- Ich fliege über das Wasser. – I fly over (across) the water.
- Dative = location (no movement to a new place)
- Der Vogel schwebt über dem Wasser. – The bird is hovering above the water.
In „den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser zu beobachten“, the sunset is located above the water; we are not moving something over the water. So we use dative:
- dem Wasser (dative of das Wasser)
„zu beobachten“ is an infinitive with „zu“, similar to English “to watch”.
In German:
- The infinitive goes to the end of the clause.
„zu“ is placed right before the infinitive:
- … den Sonnenuntergang zu beobachten. – … to watch the sunset.
- … nach Hause zu gehen. – … to go home.
So the whole chunk „den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser zu beobachten“ is a clause meaning “to watch the sunset over the water”, and it functions as what is relaxing.
You cannot drop „zu“ here;
„… den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser beobachten“ would be ungrammatical in this structure.
Can I change the word order inside the infinitive clause? For example:
„… über dem Wasser den Sonnenuntergang zu beobachten“?
Yes. Both are grammatically correct:
- den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser zu beobachten
- über dem Wasser den Sonnenuntergang zu beobachten
The default and slightly more natural order is:
- den Sonnenuntergang [wo?] über dem Wasser zu beobachten
Putting „über dem Wasser“ earlier may emphasize the location a bit more, but the difference is subtle.
German frequently uses compound nouns:
- Sonne (sun) + Untergang (setting, going down)
→ Sonnenuntergang (sunset)
All nouns in German are capitalized, including compounds:
- die Sonne
- der Untergang
- der Sonnenuntergang
That’s why „Sonnenuntergang“ is one word and starts with a capital letter.
„Wasser“ is:
- neuter: das Wasser (dictionary form, nominative singular)
After „über“ with location, we use dative, so:
- Nominative: das Wasser
- Dative: dem Wasser
Hence „über dem Wasser“ = over/above the water.
Yes, that is possible and natural:
- „beobachten“ = to observe, watch (often with some attention or duration)
- „anschauen“ = to look at, watch (more everyday, a bit less formal)
So:
- Es ist entspannend, den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser zu beobachten.
- Es ist entspannend, den Sonnenuntergang über dem Wasser anzuschauen.
Both are correct. „beobachten“ can sound a bit more deliberate/attentive than „anschauen“, but in this context they’re very close in meaning.
Both can describe a relaxing effect, but they focus on different things:
Es ist entspannend, den Sonnenuntergang … zu beobachten.
- Literally: It is relaxing to watch the sunset …
- Focus: the activity itself has a relaxing quality (in general).
Es entspannt mich, den Sonnenuntergang … zu beobachten.
- Literally: It relaxes me to watch the sunset …
- Focus: the effect on you personally.
In everyday use, „Es ist entspannend, …“ is more common and sounds more neutral and general.