My Local Area: Grammar & Phonics (AQA GCSE German): Revision Note

• Es gibt is a key structure for talking about your local area, and knowing how to use negation correctly will help you avoid some of the most common exam mistakes

• Let's look at these two grammar points in more detail

Es gibt + accusative

• Es gibt means 'there is' or 'there are' and is always followed by the accusative case

• In the accusative, the indefinite article changes for masculine nouns:

For example:

• Es gibt einen Park in meiner Stadt. There is a park in my town.

• Es gibt eine Kirche in der Nähe. There is a church nearby.

• Es gibt ein Museum im Zentrum. There is a museum in the centre.
  

• To say there is / there are no, use es gibt kein(e)

• The negative article must agree with the gender of the noun:

For example:

• Es gibt keinen Bahnhof. There is no railway station.

• Es gibt keine Moschee. There is no mosque.

• Es gibt kein Stadion. There is no stadium.

Kein(e) vs nicht

• Both words mean 'not', but they are used differently

• Use kein(e) to negate a noun

• It works like the indefinite article and must agree with the gender and case of the noun:

  • Hier gibt es kein Theater. There is no theatre here.

  • Ich habe keinen Garten. I don't have a garden.

  • Das ist keine große Stadt. That is not a big town.

  • Es gibt keine Restaurants im Dorf. There are no restaurants in the village.

• Use nicht to negate everything else - verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or nouns with a definite article:

  • Die Stadt ist nicht weit. The town is not far.

  • Ich fahre nicht gern mit dem Bus. I don't like travelling by bus.

  • Das Zentrum ist nicht historisch. The centre is not historic.

My local area: phonics

• The ß, called the Eszett, is a letter unique to German

• It is pronounced like a long, sharp 'ss' sound - never like a 'b', although it looks like a capital 'B'

• It appears after long vowels:

  • Straße

  • Straßenbahn

  • groß

  • draußen