Grammatica - loco

1111
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1011
1
12111
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
20111
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
30111
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
40
41111
On occasions, as in the last two examples, er can be omitted but the
Dutch ear generally prefers a repletive er construction wherever possible.
To this category belong also er is/zijn ‘there is/are’. It should be noted
that liggen, staan and zitten (less commonly hangen and lopen) often replace
‘to be’ in Dutch and they then usually occur in er constructions:
Er zit een muis in de hoek.
There is a mouse in the corner.
Er staat een foto van haar in de krant.
There is a photo of her in the paper.
Er lagen vier boeken op tafel.
There were four books (lying) on the table/Four books were lying on
the table.
Loopt er een gracht achter jullie huis?
Is there a canal (running) behind your house?
Repletive er is frequently used in Dutch passive constructions (see 11.12.4.3)
where there is no grammatical subject. There is a variety of ways to translate
these constructions into English:
Er wordt (aan de deur) geklopt.
There’s a knock at the door/Someone is knocking (on the door).
Er wordt te veel geroddeld.
There’s too much gossiping going on/Too much gossiping is going on.
Er werd heel weinig gedanst.
There wasn’t much dancing/People didn’t dance much.
15.2
Partitive er
This er is used with numerals and adverbs of quantity, often corresponding
to French en. In English it means something like ‘of them/it’, but is usually
not translated:
A: Kinderen zijn erg grappig. B: Hoeveel heb je er? A: Ik heb
er drie. 1
A: Kids are really funny. B: How many do you have? A: I have three
(of them).
1 But Hoeveel heb je? ‘How much have you got?’ (i.e. money) does not require er.
Partitive er
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