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I just got an email with the following sentence:

Es ist eine Anforderung zum Zurücksetzen Ihres Passworts eingegangen.

A simplified form for this would be:

Es ist etwas eingegangen.

Which seems to me like a sentence with two subjects: es and etwas. Instead I would have written:

Eine Anforderung zum Zurücksetzen Ihres Passworts ist eingegangen.

Or simplified:

Etwas ist eingegangen.

Is the sentence that I got in the email wrong? Is it allowed to have two subjects / nominative cases?

ΥΣΕΡ26328
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Enrique Moreno Tent
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2 Answers2

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You are right that es looks like a subject, but it is not, and indeed your argument shows that it is not, but that etwas is the subject of both of your simplified sentences.

Then what is the es doing in the sentences? It allows the etwas to be placed after the verb ist. You probably know that the verb has to be in second position. So something has to be in first position, and the only function that the es has in this sentence is to fill the first position. It is a mere placeholder.

Note that this placeholder es does not vary with gender or number of the actual subject, and that the verb corresponds to the subject:

Es sind Anforderungen eingegangen.

This use of es is called the Platzhalter-es.

David Vogt
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Carsten S
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  • But then, I could do that with every other sentence, no? Like Er ist mein Freund sehr müde. That does not seem "correct"... – Enrique Moreno Tent Jun 28 '17 at 11:52
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    *Es ist mein Freund sehr müde.* Unusual, but correct. – Carsten S Jun 28 '17 at 11:54
  • That is also correct?? Does this type of "structure" have a name?? Can I use it with everything, as long as I always use es? – Enrique Moreno Tent Jun 28 '17 at 11:55
  • I have added a link. This has been explained on this site, but you will have to look for it yourself, I have added one related link in a comment to your question. I cannot tell you rules on when this works and when not, I could just tell you in concrete examples. Sorry, just a native speaker ;) – Carsten S Jun 28 '17 at 12:02
  • Interesting. Then another question... what is the role of "es" in the sentence? if not subject, "direct object"? "indirect object"? something else? – Enrique Moreno Tent Jun 28 '17 at 12:03
  • I have updated my answer. Es is the actual subject. Etwas is used as a Gradpartikel which is used to highlight and specify the properties of "Es". – DisplayName Jun 28 '17 at 12:10
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    An example from German literature: Es zogen zwei rüstge Gesellen / Zum erstenmal von Haus, / So jubelnd recht in die hellen, / Klingenden, singenden Wellen / Des vollen Frühlings hinaus. (Joseph von Eichendorff: Die zwei Gesellen) – RHa Jun 28 '17 at 12:38
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    @DisplayName: Then what is "eine Anforderung"? – O. R. Mapper Jun 28 '17 at 13:05
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Es is a pronoun that can be used to signal that the subject of the sentence is in an unusual place (In German, in the "Mittel-" or "Nachfeld"), where it normally would only happen to end up in a question, for example) .

Ist eine Anforderung eingegangen? (I)

reverses "normal" German Word order (SPO - Subject, Predicate, Object) to PS, to signal a question

Eine Anforderung ist eingegangen (II)

is formed with standard word order (SP[O]), building a normal sentence

Es ist eine Anforderung eingegangen (III)

reverses standard word order like in (I), but to not sound like a question, something needs to be fixed, and that is done by placing an announcement of the subject in its normal place, formed by "Es". Es itself is in no way a subject of the sentence but simply a pronoun that signals (and allows) this exceptional word order.

Form (III) is normally used to place emphasis on the subject by putting it in an unusual place and signalling that fact through "Es". Famous example from fairy tales:

Es war einmal [eine Prinzessin | ein Frosch | ein König | ...]

Es can be used as a subject in impersonate sentences, like

Es regnet in Strömen

but obviously, here it is the single subject of the sentence.

tofro
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  • What is SPO, SP[O] and PS? – Enrique Moreno Tent Jun 28 '17 at 12:30
  • Subject, Predicate, Object. Added in answer – tofro Jun 28 '17 at 12:32
  • I thought that Object belonged within the Predicate, the way I learned at least grammar in my country, Spain. We are taught that all sentences have 2 elements, "Subject" and "Predicate" and then, within the "Predicate" are different "Objects". Is it different in German? – Enrique Moreno Tent Jun 28 '17 at 12:36
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    German grammar considers generally everything forming and qualifying the verb form in the sentence ("what happens") a predicate. Objects are considered not part of a predicate, but instead a self-standing part of the sentence. Where I learned Spanish, the same terminology was used. – tofro Jun 28 '17 at 12:46
  • You say that "Es itself is simply a pronoun that signals (and allows) an exceptional word order." but without it, the word order wouldn't at all happen... Seems like the existence of the particle tries to justify itself... But in any case, the point here is: if "es" is not the subject... then what role it plays? It is not an Indirect Object nor Direct Object, because then it would be using "Akkusativ" or "Dativ". So, what is his "grammatical" role? (Notice I say "grammatical" role. Just saying that it is there to make something more noticeable does not answer this question) – Enrique Moreno Tent Jun 28 '17 at 12:46
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    The only function it has is a placeholder for the subject that would normally be expected in its position. Sorry, there isn't more to it. – tofro Jun 28 '17 at 12:56
  • But "Placeholder for the subject" is not a grammatical concept, but a semantic one, no? – Enrique Moreno Tent Jun 28 '17 at 13:13
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    If you absolutely need a grammatical concept, the proper term in German is "Korrelat". But that's nothing else but a placeholder. – tofro Jun 28 '17 at 13:17
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    Form (III) is normally used to place emphasis on the subject by putting it in an unusual place Are you sure about this? I would have guessed that the reason you don't put the subject in front is that for some reason it doesn't work well as a topic. (Maybe because it isn't already mentioned.) – sgf Jun 30 '17 at 14:55