Dutch word er, prepositional compounds. A worksheet on the Dutch word -er with grammar explanations and exercises.
Dutch word er, prepositional compounds.
In Dutch, the little word er is used very frequently, for five different purposes:
- er as the unstressed form of daar, expressing location
- er in combination with a preposition, replacing the pronouns het/hem (it) and ze (plural ‘it’)
- er(van) in the sense of of it or of them (definite and indefinite numbers)
- extra er at the beginning of a sentence
- er as a subject
The position of er in a sentence depends on the type of er we are dealing with.
Er as the unstressed form of daar (there).
With this type of er we express location but in an unstressed form. This corresponds to English there in e.g. “I’ll see you (there) tomorrow”.
Examples
| Left | Middle | Right |
| Het heeft | er | gisteren | heel hard | geregend |
| Yesterday, it was raining very hard there. |
| Left | Middle | Right |
| Zij hebben | er | zes jaar lang | op school | gezeten |
| They went to school there for six years. |
| Left | Middle | Right |
| Hij heeft | er | vandaag | niemand | gezien |
| He has not seen anyone there today. |
Content
Level
This lesson can be used for adults from elementary to intermediate levels.
Aim
The aim of this lesson is to learn the Dutch word “er” in Dutch
Preparation
First print out the worksheet, then copy a worksheet for each student in the class.
Procedure
Go through the grammar and exercises together.
