When to use the pronoun "es"?

Question

I am not a German native speaker. I know that in certain situations the pronoun "es" has a different usage than the English "it", but I am not sure when it should be used and when it shouldn't. Here are two examples I would like to ask some clarifications for. *Example 1*: > I want to translate: "A new book will be presented tomorrow". My > intuition tells me: "Es wird morgen ein neues Buch präsentiert." but I > am not sure about this. Is it correct to start the sentence with es if > the subject is missing or is not the first element of the sentence? *Example 2*: > A slightly more complex example. "Moreover it would be interesting for > me to..." Translation: "Darüber hinaus wäre es für mich interessant, > ... zu ..." Is it correct to put "es" in this case? Or should I simply write "Darüber hinaus wäre für mich interessant, ... zu ..."?

Answer 1

"Es" is used as a pronoun for every noun that is a "DAS" word (das Buch, das Auto, das Zimmer, etc.), but it is also used as an impersonal pronoun like in "It's raining" (Es regnet). Your two sentences seem to use the latter.

As for the first example, I find the sentence structure a little strange. I would simply say "Morgen wird ein neues Buch vorgestellt" (I wouldn't use "praesentiert" either).

The second sentence is correct as stated (Darüberhinaus waere es fuer mich interessant, .....zu machen ..."). You need "es" like in "it is interesting".