Duolingo marked my translation of "It was the most colorful kite on the ground" Er war der bunteste Drachen auf dem Boden suggesting it should be "es" instead of "er". I went with "er" because Drachen is a masculine noun. I have seen "es" used as a generic "it" but I wonder in a construction like this if I should always use "es" instead of "er" or "sie", regardless of the gender of the referent noun.
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1Duo sometimes marks answers wrong when native speakers might say both alternatives are correct. This is especially annoying since it keeps repeating the question until you get it "right", forcing you to memorize what Duo "thinks" is correct rather than what is actually correct. I certainly wouldn't have thought the "it" was a "generic it" in this context.– RDBuryCommented Jul 29 at 13:34
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1 Answer
Both solutions are correct.
Er war der bunteste Drachen auf dem Boden.
You use this version in a context where the kite is already the main topic of conversation:
A: Warum hast du da diesen schönen bunten Drachen an der Wand hängen?
B: Ich habe den ersten Preis bei einem Drachenflugwettbewerb gewonnen, und als Gewinn durfte ich mir einen neuen Drachen aussuchen. Ich habe dann diesen da ausgewählt, denn er war der bunteste Drachen auf dem Boden.
Es war der bunteste Drachen auf dem Boden.
You use this version, if not this specific kite is the topic of conversation, but the set of all kites:
Laura betrachtete die vielen Drachen, die überall verstreut herumlagen. Dann lief sie zu einem hin und hob ihn auf. Es war der bunteste Drachen auf dem Boden. "Darf ich den mitnehmen?" fragte sie mich.
But this is a very weak rule. It is not wrong to use the other version in both situations.
answered Jul 29 at 7:51
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Would it make a better rule to ask whether the subject "kite" has already been introduced? "Unter all dem herumliegenden Spielzeug fiel ihm eines besonders auf. Es wahr der bunteste Drachen auf dem Boden." Her, "es" represents ein Spielzeug, not ein Drachen.– ccprogCommented Jul 29 at 10:40
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@ccprog: The word »es« in your example is not a generic es. Instead it refers to a specific noun (Spielzeug) which is neuter. A generic es does not depend on any noun, so it also doesn't match with any nouns gender. Exactly this independence from any noun defines a generic es which is always neuter, never masculine or feminine. There is also a generic das which also exists only in a neuter form: »Das war heute ein wunderschöner Tag.« Commented Jul 29 at 11:46