Learn Hardcore German: Es ist wichtig, negative Gedanken loszulassen, um besser zu schlafen. - It is important to let go of negative thoughts in order to sleep better.

In “Es ist wichtig, …”, the “Es” is a dummy subject (also called an “expletive es”). It doesn’t really mean anything; it just fills the subject position, similar to “It” in English in sentences like “It is important to relax.”

German likes to have something in the subject position.
The real content of the sentence is the infinitive part: “negative Gedanken loszulassen”.

You usually cannot just say:

✗ Ist wichtig, negative Gedanken loszulassen.

That sounds incomplete or very colloquial at best. More natural alternatives:

Es ist wichtig, negative Gedanken loszulassen.
Wichtig ist, negative Gedanken loszulassen. (Inverted for emphasis)

What exactly is “negative Gedanken loszulassen” grammatically?

“negative Gedanken loszulassen” is a zu-infinitive clause (Infinitivsatz).

loszulassen = to let go (of)
negative Gedanken loszulassen = to let go of negative thoughts

In the sentence “Es ist wichtig, negative Gedanken loszulassen …”:

The dummy “Es” is the formal subject.
The real content (what is important) is the infinitive clause “negative Gedanken loszulassen”.

So structurally, it’s like:

It is important to let go of negative thoughts.
→ Es ist wichtig, negative Gedanken loszulassen.

Why does “loslassen” become “loszulassen” here, and not “zu loslassen”?

“loslassen” is a separable verb:

Basic infinitive: loslassen
Present tense:
- ich lasse los
- du lässt los
Past participle: losgelassen

With zu + infinitive and separable verbs, “zu” goes between the prefix and the verb stem:

los (prefix) + lassen (verb) → loslassen
with zu → los
- zu
  - lassen → loszulassen

You do not say:

✗ zu loslassen

Correct examples with separable verbs + zu:

anzufangen (from anfangen)
aufzustehen (from aufstehen)
loszulassen (from loslassen)

Why is it “negative Gedanken” and not “negativen Gedanken” here?

“Gedanken” is plural of “der Gedanke” (the thought).

In “negative Gedanken loszulassen”:

Gedanken is the direct object of loslassen → accusative plural
There is no article (no die, keine, meine etc.)
Adjective endings in accusative plural without article take -e.

So you get:

negative Gedanken (accusative plural, no article)

Compare with other cases to see the pattern:

Nominative plural, no article:
- Negative Gedanken sind belastend. – Negative thoughts are burdensome.
Dative plural, no article → adjective -en, noun often -n:
- mit negativen Gedanken – with negative thoughts

So here it’s accusative plural → negative Gedanken is correct.

What does “um besser zu schlafen” mean, and how does this “um … zu” structure work?

“um … zu + infinitive” expresses purpose: in order to do something.

um besser zu schlafen = in order to sleep better

Structure:

um
- (optional object/adverbs) + zu
  - infinitive

In the sentence:

um – introduces the purpose
besser – adverb (better)
zu schlafen – “to sleep”

The whole phrase tells us why it is important to let go of negative thoughts:

Es ist wichtig, negative Gedanken loszulassen, um besser zu schlafen.
→ It is important to let go of negative thoughts in order to sleep better.

Note: The subject of the “um … zu” clause is the same as the subject (or logical subject) of the main clause (here: “you/one/I” understood from context).

Why do we need “zu” before “schlafen” and inside “loszulassen”?

Both “loszulassen” and “zu schlafen” are zu-infinitives:

negative Gedanken loszulassen
- zu is inside the separable verb: loszulassen
- This infinitive clause is what is important.
um besser zu schlafen
- Another zu + infinitive clause, this time a purpose clause (in order to sleep better).

In German, after certain structures (like “es ist wichtig, …” or “um … zu …”), you use “zu + infinitive”, not a finite verb:

Es ist wichtig, regelmäßig zu schlafen. – It is important to sleep regularly.
Ich lese, um besser Deutsch zu lernen. – I read in order to learn German better.

You cannot replace these with a plain infinitive without zu in this context.

Why is it “besser” and not something like “mehr gut”?

“besser” is the comparative form of “gut” (good):

gut → besser → am besten

German does not form comparatives with “mehr” in front of adjectives like good:

✗ mehr gut
✓ besser

So:

gut schlafen – to sleep well
besser schlafen – to sleep better
am besten schlafen – to sleep best

The sentence wants to say “sleep better”, hence “besser”.

Who is doing the “letting go” and the “sleeping”? There is no “ich/du/man” mentioned.

In both infinitive parts:

negative Gedanken loszulassen
um besser zu schlafen

the subject is understood from context and is the same for both actions.

Typically, this will be:

“man” (one, people in general)
or “du”, “ich”, etc., depending on context

So the full idea is:

Es ist wichtig, (dass du/man) negative Gedanken loslässt, um (selbst) besser zu schlafen.
→ It is important (that you/one) let go of negative thoughts in order (for you/one) to sleep better.

German infinitive clauses often omit the subject when it is clear and identical to the subject of the main clause.

Could I rephrase this using “dass” or “damit” instead of the infinitive constructions?

Yes, you can rephrase using “dass” or “damit”. The meaning stays very similar, but the structure changes.

Replace the “es ist wichtig, … zu …” part with a dass-clause:

Es ist wichtig, dass man negative Gedanken loslässt, um besser zu schlafen.
Es ist wichtig, dass du negative Gedanken loslässt, um besser zu schlafen.

Replace “um besser zu schlafen” with a damit-clause (also purpose):

Es ist wichtig, negative Gedanken loszulassen, damit man besser schläft.
Es ist wichtig, negative Gedanken loszulassen, damit du besser schläfst.

Differences:

“um … zu …” → short, compact, same subject as main clause.
“damit …” → you can specify a different subject if needed (e.g. damit deine Kinder besser schlafen).
“dass …” → just turns the content into a finite clause: that-clause.

What is the difference between “Gedanken” and “Denken”? Why use “Gedanken” here?

der Gedanke / die Gedanken = (a) thought / thoughts
- discrete units, like individual ideas in your head
das Denken = thinking (as a process, in general)

In “negative Gedanken loszulassen”, we are talking about specific, concrete thoughts that are negative, for example:

worries about work
self-critical inner talk
fears about the future

So “Gedanken” is correct here.

If you said “negatives Denken loslassen”, it would sound more like:

letting go of negative thinking as a general habit or mindset, not just specific thoughts.

Both are possible in German, but they have slightly different nuances.