āErā: what, when, how and why
This weird word has many different functions. In this post, requested by @studerendutch, Iāll try to tackle all of them!
Note: as youāll notice, a Dutch synonym ofĀ āerā will often beĀ ādaarā but theyāre not always interchangeable!
In this case, you replace a certain location byĀ āerā, as it has already been mentioned and you know what youāre talking about.
Ik ben gisteren in Rotterdam gaan shoppen, ik heb er een t-shirt en een paar schoenen gekocht.
I went shopping in Rotterdam yesterday, Iāve bought a t-shirt and a pair of shoes.
āRotterdamā is replaced byĀ āerā in the second part of the sentence. As you can see, I left out any English translation, although you could useĀ āthereā.
Hanna: āVolgende week gaan we met de klas op uitstap naar Brussel.āĀ Tom: āZo leuk! Je moet er zeker een Brusselse wafel gaan eten, die vind ik nog beter dan de Luikse.ā
Hanna: āNext week, weāre going on a trip to Brussels with our class.āĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Tom: āSo nice! You must go eat a Belgian waffle, I think theyāre even better than the waffles from LiĆØge.ā
āErā replacesĀ āBrusselsā here, but thatās really the only difference. Again, you see I didnāt use an English equivalent, though you could useĀ āthereā again.
2. In combination with a preposition
When you have preposition + part of a sentence,Ā āerā will replace the āpart of the sentenceā while the preposition will stay. In this case, er and the preposition are written as one word (withĀ āerā first and then the prepositionā) if there are no words in between. Mind structures likeĀ āernaartoe/er naartoeā: even most native speakers have no idea when to write them as one word and when not! (When in doubt, you can always go to taaltelefoon.be)
Felix: āGa je een essay schrijven over het gebruik van pesticiden in de landbouw?āĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Evelien: āNee, ik ga er een toespraak over houden.ā
Felix: āAre you going to write an essay about the use of pesticides in agriculture?āĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Evelien: āNo, Iām going to do a speech about it.ā
Here,Ā āerā andĀ āoverā arenāt written as one word, because the direct object comes in between. In English,Ā āerā is replaced byĀ āitā.
Heleen:Ā āHeb je je pakje al aangekregen?āĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Tobias:Ā āNee, ik ben erop aan het wachten.ā
Heleen:Ā āHave you gotten your package yet?āĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Tobias:Ā āNo, Iām waiting for it.ā
The preposition in the second sentence,Ā āopā, isnāt used in the first sentence. Still, Tobias refers to the direct object of the first sentence in his sentence byĀ āerā, because otherwise heād have to repeat it. In the second sentence, itās an object by the verb but that doesnāt matter to the use ofĀ āerā.
3. In combination with a numeral
Only used with integer numbers, so not if youāre talking aboutĀ ā3/4 of a cakeā, for example.
Annelies:Ā āHoeveel appels heb je gekocht?āĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Emma:Ā āIk heb er tien gekocht, zou dat genoeg zijn?ā
Annelies:Ā āHow many apples did you buy?āĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Emma:Ā āIāve bought ten, would that be enough?ā
Here, there is really no English equivalent forĀ āerā.Ā
Gilles:Ā āHeb je ooit al antilopes gezien?āĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā IsmaĆ«l:Ā āJa, ik heb er zelfs ooit al Ć©Ć©n in het wild gezien!ā
Gilles:Ā āHave you ever seenĀ antelopes?Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā IsmaĆ«l:Ā āYeah, I even saw one in the wild once!ā
Again, no English equivalent forĀ āerā
4. As the subject of a passive sentence
āErā is used in passive sentences who donāt really have a subject. These kind of sentences are also calledĀ āsubject clausesā. Subject clauses can also haveĀ āhetā as a subject (e.g. het regent = it rains), butĀ āerā andĀ āhetā arenāt interchangeable andĀ āerā is used most of the time.
Er was eens een mooi meisje met haren zo zwart als ebbenhout en een huid zo wit als sneeuw. Daarom werd ze Sneeuwwitje genoemd.
Once upon a time (literally: there was once) a girl with hair as black as ebony and a skin as white as snow. Thatās why she was called Snow-white.
The classic beginning of fairy tails is a nice example of a subject clause. As you can see, the direct English equivalent would beĀ āthereā.
Er heeft iemand voor je gebeld, ik heb het nummer opgeschreven.
Someone called for you, Iāve written the number down.
As you see, this sentence is active in English but passive in Dutch! You could make it active in Dutch (āIemand heeft voor je gebeldā) but that sounds a lot less natural.
I was kind of shocked by this one myself. Temporary subject, what? Apparently, a temporary subject would be a subject thatās placed somewhere in the beginning of the sentence, while theĀ ārealā subject is to be found further in the sentence. ThatĀ ārealā subject can only be indefinite. so you canāt put de/het in front of it, only een.Ā āErā is not placed in the beginning of certain questions.Ā Iāve noticedĀ āerā often functions as an adverb of place here. Sounds complicated, right? Here come some examples:
Er zijn nog mensen in het gebouw!
There are still people in the building!
āMensen zijn nog in het gebouwā is a sentence! Just not a very naturally-sounding sentence. So thatās why you useĀ āerā here: to make it all a bit smoother. As you can see,Ā āerā becomesĀ āthereā in English.
Are your friends still there?
I used two sources (of which one used the other as a source), both in Dutch but I thought Iād include them anyway.
https://educatie-en-school.infonu.nl/taal/27737-het-gebruik-van-het-woord-er-in-het-nederlands.html
http://taalgroepnl.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/bijwoorden-gebruik-van-er.pdf
