Formes + gab + Akkusativ (es bleibt Singular)
Meaning and usage
es gab is the preterite of es gibt and means there was or there were. You use it to say that something existed or happened at a time in the past. The verb form is always gab, even when the thing that follows is plural: Es gab zwei Probleme. What follows stands in the accusative, so masculine nouns change: Es gab einen Unfall, Es gab keinen Zucker.
The word es sits in position 1, and gab follows in position 2. A time or place phrase can come first, then the verb, then es: Gestern gab es ein Fest. Learners often make the verb agree with the plural noun, as in Es gaben zwei Morde, which is not German. Keep gab singular in every sentence.
Examples 5
Vor langer Zeit gab es hier eine Brücke.
A long time ago, there was a bridge here.
Vor meinem Haus gab es einen großen Baum.
There was a tall tree in front of my house.
Zu dieser Zeit gab es noch keine Radios.
There were no radios in those days.
Genau hier gab es früher einen Laden.
There used to be a store right here.
In diesem Monat gab es zwei Morde.
There were two murders this month.
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Gestern es in der Stadt ein großes Fest.
Show answer
Correct answer: gab
Gestern shows the past, so the preterite gab is needed. The verb stays singular because the pattern is es gab, even when a plural noun follows.
- gibt is the present tense and does not match Gestern.
- gaben is a plural preterite form, but es gab keeps the verb singular.
- gebt is a present tense form for ihr and does not fit here.
In this topic: Preterite
- machte, wohnte: Stamm + -te weak verbs form the preterite with -te
- arbeitete, redete, wartete adding a linking e before -te in the preterite
- ging, kam, sah past tense of strong verbs: stem vowel changes, no -te
- brachte, dachte, kannte, wusste mixed verbs change the vowel and add -te
- konnte, musste, wollte, durfte spoken past of the modals, without umlaut
- wurde: Er wurde Arzt. became, the past of werden as a full verb
- es gab there was, there were
- Er stand früh auf. Separable verbs split in the preterite too
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.