Sind instead of gibt

Yahya

Yahya

Hi,

in 2.8 there is an example sentence that says "Es sind zwei Personen im Auto. " why is (Sind) used here and why isn't (gibt) used in instead?

BR,
yahya
Byron-K21

Byron-K21

The best answer I could find, after some research, is that gibt is used more in general situations whereas sind or ist is for specific references, e.g. "zwei Personen"
Byron-K21

Byron-K21

Having just stated the above, I came across examples in my German reader where that doesn't seem to hold up.  It appears "gibt" is also used in specific references.  So, I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter.  Perhaps a native speaker can help us out. 
sfpugh

sfpugh

There is a German with Jenny about this with lots of examples.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BMk2R5ePPA
Yahya

Yahya

thank you sfpugh ! 
and thank you for your feedback too Byron-K21 ! 
Byron-K21

Byron-K21

Thanks sfpugh.  I just played Jenny's lesson and it clarifies the issue which is basically general (gibt) versus specific (sind).

Now that I'm renewing my German studies, I find her lessons really valuable.  One can step through them serially, or look up certain instances of usage or structure with lots of good examples.  I haven't actually paid for any of her courses, but the videos are available on youtube as you noted.
Fred-C14

Fred-C14

Hi Byron
I've recently resumed in ernest too. I've been to Germany several times in the interim and kept up with some other studies. The German that I have learned does actually work but only on a relatively superficial level. 'Real' German tends to be infinitely more complicated than anything that Levels 1 and 2 throw at you, the vocabulary seems endless and the cases and conjunctions are largely unfathomable. Rocket German is brilliant for pronunciation though. Anyway hopefully this time I'll get a bit further before my brain caves in. 
Regards
 
Byron-K21

Byron-K21

Hi Fred,

You are so right.  I suffered under the illusion that after 3 levels of RG I would be reasonably fluent, but alas, not so.  It helped though, but I can see I have to work harder and pursue other options as well.  I've heard language studies help to postpone dementia so that alone is a worthwhile goal at my age.
Fred-C14

Fred-C14

My own experience to date suggests that learning German at an advanced age is far more likely to cause dementia than it is to prevent it!  But what the heck. (-:

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