German sentences want something in first position and the conjugated verb in second. When there is nothing natural to put first — or when you deliberately want to hold the real subject back — es steps in and occupies the slot. It translates to nothing at all, which is why learners either leave it out or cannot work out why it is there.
There are three different es doing three different jobs, and telling them apart is the whole of this topic — because one of them vanishes as soon as the sentence changes, and the other two do not.
1. The pure placeholder — it disappears
This es is holding first position and nothing else. Put anything else in first position and it is simply deleted, because the slot it was filling is now taken.
Es kamen viele Gäste.
A lot of guests came.
es fills position one; viele Gäste is the real subject
Gestern kamen viele Gäste.
A lot of guests came yesterday.
gestern now holds position one, so es is gone — not “Gestern es kamen”
Es fehlt bislang an einer klaren Regelung.
So far there is no clear rule.
the standard opening for a proposal or a Vorschlag
2. The forward-pointing es — it stays
Here es stands in for a whole clause that arrives later. The sentence makes a claim about something, and the something is the dass- or wenn-clause at the end. This es is not just filling a slot, so it survives when the sentence is rearranged.
Es ist üblich, dass man sich vorher anmeldet.
It's normal to register beforehand.
es points forward to the dass-clause
Es gilt als höflich, wenn man zuerst fragt.
It's considered polite to ask first.
the pattern the B1 speaking set asks for
Es wäre zu prüfen, ob sich das rechnet.
It would be worth examining whether that adds up.
a careful, non-committal opening for a written proposal
3. Fixed es — part of the expression
In some expressions es is simply built in and never goes anywhere. There is no real subject hiding behind it and no clause it points to; the es is part of the vocabulary item.
Es geht dabei weniger um Begabung als um Selbstverständlichkeit.
It's less about talent than about taking it for granted.
es geht um — the standard way to say what something is about
Es handelt sich um ein Missverständnis.
It's a misunderstanding.
es handelt sich um — note the sich, which is not optional
Es gibt keinen anderen Weg.
There's no other way.
es gibt always takes the accusative after it
The cleft: singling one thing out
A special use worth having deliberately. “Es sind …, die …” pulls one group to the front of the sentence and puts a spotlight on it — the German equivalent of “it is X who …”. It says: this group specifically, and not the one you might have assumed.
Es sind meist Töchter und Schwiegertöchter, die die Pflege übernehmen.
It is mostly daughters and daughters-in-law who take on the care.
the point is who — the cleft makes that the argument
Töchter und Schwiegertöchter übernehmen meist die Pflege.
(the same information, flat)
true, but it no longer argues anything
Es war der Nachbar, der schließlich geklingelt hat.
It was the neighbour who finally rang the bell.
the verb agrees with the highlighted noun, not with es
Common mistakes
✗Gestern es kamen viele Gäste.
✓Gestern kamen viele Gäste.
The pure placeholder only exists to fill first position. Once gestern is there, es has no job and must go.
✗Ist üblich, dass man sich anmeldet.
✓Es ist üblich, dass man sich anmeldet.
The opposite error. This es points forward to the dass-clause and cannot be dropped — the sentence has nothing in first position without it.
✗Es handelt um ein Missverständnis.
✓Es handelt sich um ein Missverständnis.
The expression is es handelt sich um. Without sich the verb means to trade or to act.
✗Man ist üblich, dass man sich anmeldet.
✓Es ist üblich, dass man sich anmeldet.
man is an indefinite person and cannot be the subject of “is normal”. The impersonal slot belongs to es.
✗Es sind meist Töchter, das die Pflege übernimmt.
✓Es sind meist Töchter, die die Pflege übernehmen.
In a cleft the verb and the relative pronoun agree with the highlighted noun — Töchter, plural — not with es.
Two of these are worth deliberately adding to your written German at B2. “Es fehlt an …” and “Es wäre zu prüfen, ob …” open a proposal without accusing anyone, and the cleft lets you make a point about who or what without raising your voice. All three are ways of arguing quietly, which is what German written argument tends to reward.