Grammatica - loco

15
Er
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15.5.2
When a clause begins with an adverbial expression of place, repletive er
is usually dropped:
Er staan veel auto’s op de parkeerplaats.
Op de parkeerplaats staan (er) veel auto’s.
There are a lot of cars in the parking area.
15.5.3
More than two er’s in one clause is impossible. In a clause where the
sense demands three, you either delete the pronominal er (see 15.5.1) or
rephrase using a relative clause:
Deletion:
Er keken drie mensen naar het programma.
There were three people watching the programme.
Er keken er drie naar het programma.
There were three watching the programme.
Er keken er drie naar. (< *Er keken er drie ernaar)
There were three watching it.
Rephrasing:
Er keken drie mensen naar het programma.
There were three people watching the programme.
Er waren er drie die naar het programma keken.
There were three who were watching the programme.
Er waren er drie die ernaar keken.
There were three who were watching it.
15.5.4
The verb uitzien always requires er and should be learnt as eruitzien. This
is a very idiomatic usage of er.
Hij ziet er erg ziek uit.
He looks terribly ill.