Learn Hardcore German: Das Essen ist zu fett.

Das Essen ist zu fett.

The food is too fatty.

Breakdown of Das Essen ist zu fett.

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Questions & Answers about Das Essen ist zu fett.

Why is it Das Essen and not Die Essen or just Essen?

Essen is a noun here and means food or meal. As a noun, Essen is neuter, so it takes the article das in the nominative singular:

das Essen = the food / the meal

Die Essen would be grammatically possible only in some special contexts where Essen is used as a plural (e.g. die Essen on a school timetable = the meals), but that is much less common.

If you drop the article and just say Essen ist zu fett, it sounds like you are making a general statement about food in general (like Food is too fatty in a generic sense). With Das Essen, you clearly mean a specific meal that is in front of you or being discussed.

What is the difference between Essen and essen?

Essen (capital E) is a noun and means food or meal. Nouns are capitalized in German.
- Example: Das Essen schmeckt gut. – The food tastes good.
essen (lowercase e) is a verb and means to eat.
- Example: Wir essen um 18 Uhr. – We eat at 6 p.m.

In Das Essen ist zu fett, it must be the noun, so it is capitalized and takes an article.

Why is it fett and not fette or fettes?

In this sentence, fett is an adjective used predicatively after the verb sein (ist).

After sein (to be), adjectives do not take endings in German. They stay in their basic form:
- Das Essen ist gut.
- Die Suppe ist heiß.
- Das Essen ist zu fett.

Adjectives only get endings when they directly come before a noun:

das fette Essen – the fatty food
ein fettes Essen – a fatty meal

So:

Das Essen ist fett. (no ending)
Das fette Essen (ending -e because it comes before the noun)

What exactly does zu mean here in zu fett? Is it like very?

No. zu with an adjective means too in the sense of more than is good / more than is wanted:

zu fett = too fatty / too greasy (excessive)

This is different from sehr, which means very but does not imply that it is too much:

Das Essen ist sehr fett. – The food is very fatty (descriptive; maybe neutral)
Das Essen ist zu fett. – The food is too fatty (negative judgment; it’s more than acceptable)

So zu expresses an excess, not just intensity.

Could I also say Das Essen ist zu viel fett?

That is not idiomatic German. You would say:

Das Essen hat zu viel Fett. – The food has too much fat.

Here’s the pattern difference:

zu + adjective: Das Essen ist zu fett. – The food is too fatty.
zu viel + noun: Das Essen hat zu viel Fett. – The food has too much fat.

So zu fett is correct in your sentence; zu viel fett is not.

What is the difference between fett and fettig?

Both can describe food that contains a lot of fat, but there are some nuances:

fett
- Can mean fatty / greasy (for food): Das Essen ist zu fett.
- Can also mean fat for living beings, but that’s blunt and can be rude:
  - Er ist fett. – He’s fat (very direct, often insulting).
fettig
- More like greasy / oily, often about the surface being oily:
  - fettige Pommes – greasy fries
  - fettige Haare – greasy hair

You could also say:

Das Essen ist zu fettig. – The food is too greasy.

This would usually sound a bit more specific to the greasy/oily quality, but in everyday speech zu fett and zu fettig often overlap for food.

Why is the word order Das Essen ist zu fett and not Das Essen zu fett ist?

German main clauses usually follow the verb-second (V2) rule: the finite verb (here: ist) must be in second position in the sentence.

Das Essen = first element
ist = second element (the verb, must stand here)
zu fett = rest of the sentence

So:

Correct: Das Essen ist zu fett.
Wrong as a normal main clause: Das Essen zu fett ist.

You only move the verb to the end in subordinate clauses introduced by a conjunction like weil, dass, etc.:

…, weil das Essen zu fett ist. – …because the food is too fatty.

Why is Essen capitalized but zu and fett are not?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of where they appear in the sentence.

Essen is a noun → E is capital.
zu is a particle (like an adverb) → lower case.
fett is an adjective → lower case.

This is a general rule:

Das Haus ist groß. – Haus (noun) is capital, groß (adjective) is not.
Mein Kaffee ist zu kalt. – Kaffee (noun) capital, zu and kalt lowercase.

How do you pronounce Das Essen ist zu fett?

In IPA (approximate):

Das – /das/ (short a, like in English dusk)
Essen – /ˈɛsn̩/
- E like e in English bed
- Double s makes the s sound short and strong; the vowel before it stays short.
ist – /ɪst/ (short i, like i in sit)
zu – /tsuː/
- Starts with a ts sound (like at the end of cats), u long like in zoo.
fett – /fɛt/
- e short as in bed, tt = short t.

Rhythmically, it’s quite even:
Das ES-sen ist zu FETT.
The main stress is on ES- in Essen and on fett.

Is Essen singular or plural here?

In Das Essen ist zu fett, Essen is singular.

das Essen – the food / the meal (singular)
Verb ist (3rd person singular) agrees with that.

There is a plural die Essen in some contexts (e.g. die Essen = multiple meals on a plan or in an institutional context), but in everyday speech, Essen is typically used as an uncountable singular referring to food or a meal in general.

If I want to replace Das Essen with a pronoun, what do I use: es or sie?

You use es, because Essen is neuter:

Das Essen ist zu fett. Es ist zu fett. – The food is too fatty. It is too fatty.

For reference:

masculine nouns → er
feminine nouns → sie
neuter nouns → es

Since das Essen is neuter (article das), the corresponding pronoun is es.

How would I negate the sentence? Is it Das Essen ist nicht zu fett?

Yes, that is correct:

Das Essen ist nicht zu fett. – The food is not too fatty.

Here, nicht negates the whole statement ist zu fett. Word order:

Subject: Das Essen
Verb: ist (2nd position)
Negation + predicate: nicht zu fett

You would not say Das Essen ist zu nicht fett – that is incorrect.