A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a

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12/8/2017
Es gibt viele Leute in New York.
There are many people in New York.
When we are talking about a specific number of people / objects, then you will
see the form es sind (there are):
Es sind zwanzig Studenten in diesem Zimmer.
There are twenty students in this room.
es
In both the above examples the pronoun es is translated as “there.” Similar
uses of it are:
Es geschah im Jahre 1990 ein Erdbeben in San Franzisko.
There occurred an earthquake in San Francisco in 1990.
Es spielte ein Kind in dem Garten.
There was a child playing in the garden.
In both of these examples we could ignore the es (there) and simply say “An
earthquake occurred in San Francisco in 1990” and “A child was playing in the
garden.”
abhängen von (to depend on)
Es hängt davon ab, ob wir das Geld haben.
It depends upon whether we have the money.
Meine Urlaubspläne hängen vom Chef ab.
My vacation plans are contingent upon my boss.
sich befassen mit (to deal with)
Dieses Buch befaßt sich mit der Geschichte des Automobils.
This book deals with the history of the automobile.
es geht um (to be a matter / issue of)
Es geht um die Finanzen.
It is an issue of finances.
gelingen (to succeed)
Es ist mir gelungen, die Aufgabe zu beenden.
I succeeded in finishing the task.