Answers
May 02, 2015 - 10:02 AM
Bahnhof actually is the direct object of gibt, even if we don't translate it that way in English. That is why it takes the accusative in German. 'Es' (it) is the subject of 'gibt', which requires a direct object (i.e., it is transitive). If this seems bizarre, consider the peculiarity of the English equivalent for someone learning the language: "Is there a train station nearby?" "There" hardly fits the adverbial role we are accustomed to seeing it fill. It is, put crudely, a "dummy word" that holds the place of the subject, which is "a train station." We could pose the same question more directly as "Is a train station nearby?" These idiomatic formulations are one of the challenges in comprehending another language.
As for the position of 'nah', it is characteristically the final word in a sentence (save for an infinitive or past participle). On the other hand, there are few words whose positions are fixed by formula (as opposed to tendency). While I have not had enough experience in German to be specific about 'nah', consider the variation in placement of adverbs in English, based on the emphasis the speaker wishes to convey (called 'illocutionary force' or 'pragmatics'): "Only three days are left before the game" - 'Three days only are left before the game.' The second sentence is certainly more unusual, but is legitimate grammatically and, due to its infrequency, stresses something different than the first. All this is to say that it's quite likely 'nah' could appear in the order you suggest. Language tolerates word orders that do not violate grammatical structure.
As for the position of 'nah', it is characteristically the final word in a sentence (save for an infinitive or past participle). On the other hand, there are few words whose positions are fixed by formula (as opposed to tendency). While I have not had enough experience in German to be specific about 'nah', consider the variation in placement of adverbs in English, based on the emphasis the speaker wishes to convey (called 'illocutionary force' or 'pragmatics'): "Only three days are left before the game" - 'Three days only are left before the game.' The second sentence is certainly more unusual, but is legitimate grammatically and, due to its infrequency, stresses something different than the first. All this is to say that it's quite likely 'nah' could appear in the order you suggest. Language tolerates word orders that do not violate grammatical structure.
May 02, 2015 - 10:36 AM
Thank you rltroxel for the detailed explanation. It seems that I misunderstood this point and I mixed ''Es gibt'' with ''verb to be'' where actually ''-en'' is not added.
May 02, 2015 - 12:38 PM
You're welcome.
May 04, 2015 - 04:14 PM
I had exactly the same feeling about these specific two sentences. After reading the comment I checked the lesson again. You will find in the conversation at the beginning of the lesson, the woman says 'Aber es gibt da druben einen bahnhof'