How it works

The Magic Word "Er": Introducing the Subject

Have you ever noticed that English uses "There is" or "There are" to introduce a topic?

• "There is a cat in the garden."
• "There are books on the table."

Dutch does the exact same thing, but it uses the small but powerful word: Er.

The "Stage Introducer"

Imagine your sentence is a theater stage. If you say "Een man staat op straat" (A man stands on the street), it sounds a bit unexpected. It's like the actor walked on stage before the curtains opened.

Dutch prefers to open the curtains first with Er (There).

Er staat een man op straat. (There stands a man on the street.)

When to use it? (The Indefinite Rule)

Use Er when the subject is Indefinite (unknown or non-specific). Look for words like:

• Een (A / An) -> Een man
• Geen (No) -> Geen brood
• Veel (Many) -> Veel mensen
• Niemand (Nobody)

Formula: Er + [Verb] + [Indefinite Subject] + [Rest]

Examples

• Specific (The man): De man werkt hier. (Okay! We know him.)

• Indefinite (A man): Er werkt hier een man. (There works a man here.)

• Specific (My keys): Mijn sleutels liggen op tafel.

• Indefinite (Keys): Er liggen sleutels op tafel. (There lie keys on the table.)

Common Mistakes

1. Using it with "The" (De/Het)

   • ❌ Er staat de man. (Wrong! "The man" is specific, so he doesn't need an introducer.)
   • ✅ De man staat daar.

2. Forgetting the inversion

   • Because Er takes position 1, the verb comes at position 2, and the "real subject" comes after.
   • Er (1) is (2) niemand (Subject).

Pro Tip 💡

Think of Er as a placeholder subject. It keeps the seat warm for the real subject ("een man", "niemand") which wants to sit later in the sentence to build suspense!