{"id":7472,"date":"2021-08-27T15:14:48","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T15:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=7472"},"modified":"2021-08-27T15:14:48","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T15:14:48","slug":"er-en-daar-the-not-so-confusing-dutch-translations-of-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/er-en-daar-the-not-so-confusing-dutch-translations-of-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Er en daar: The (not so) confusing Dutch versions of “there”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like many other languages, Dutch has a differentiation between\u00a0er\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0daar<\/em>, which in English both translate to “there”. So what\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>that difference, how can you keep them apart, and what do you use when?<\/p>\n

“There” is the culprit<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\"er<\/a>

Photo by Thomas Mowe<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Like the English word “some”<\/a>, which has quite a range of translations in Dutch, “there” seems to be the reason for the confusing translation.<\/p>\n

The Dutch words\u00a0er\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0daar\u00a0<\/em>both translate to “there”. But the meaning of “there” is different.\u00a0Daar\u00a0<\/em>means “there”, compared to “here” (hier). You can point at\u00a0daar<\/em>.<\/strong> Here’s an example:<\/p>\n

Waar staat iedereen?<\/em><\/p>\n

Daar! Op het plein.<\/em><\/p>\n

(Where is everybody?<\/p>\n

There! On the square.)<\/p>\n

Daar is de man, die mij heeft gebeld\u00a0<\/em>(There is the man that called me).<\/p>\n

You can point at the people, you can point at the man. It indicates a certain place, like hier <\/em>(here) and daar <\/em>(there).<\/p>\n

What about\u00a0er<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Translating\u00a0er<\/em> also becomes “there”. But here it is in a more generic, general sense. Here, it is used as a pronoun. Like this:<\/p>\n

Er zijn mensen die niet geloven.<\/em><\/p>\n

(There are people that do not believe.)<\/p>\n

Er is niets aan te doen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(There is nothing to do about it.)<\/p>\n

Er is niets van over<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(There is nothing left of it).<\/p>\n

And that’s it! So a “there is” or “there are” simply translates to\u00a0er is\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0er zijn<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What about\u00a0Daar is\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0Daar zijn<\/em>? Again, like you could see in the examples of\u00a0daar<\/em>, that indicates a certain place.<\/p>\n

Beyond “there”: Other meanings of er<\/em>\u00a0and daar<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n
\"er<\/a>

Photo by Nick Fewings<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Er\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0daar\u00a0<\/em>can also be more versatile than just there. They are also complementary words in referring to something when propositions are involved (ervan, daarin, daarvan, erin, erop, daaropaf,\u00a0<\/em>etc.).<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Er zijn mensen die\u00a0daar<\/strong> niet in geloven.<\/em><\/p>\n

(There are people that do not believe\u00a0in that<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

Daar\u00a0<\/em>in this sense does not refer to a place, but it refers back to something previously stated. It’s because of the proposition\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>that we get\u00a0daar<\/em> here, instead of\u00a0dat<\/em> (that):<\/p>\n

Er zijn mensen die dat<\/strong> niet geloven. <\/em><\/p>\n

(There are people that do not believe that<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

What happens if we do this with\u00a0er<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Er zijn mensen die\u00a0er\u00a0<\/strong>niet in geloven.<\/em><\/p>\n

(There are people that do not believe\u00a0in it<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

So, just like in the other meanings,\u00a0er\u00a0<\/em>is a more generic form that does not refer to something specific. That can be nicely illustrated in the next example too:<\/p>\n

Ik kan er<\/strong> echt niks van<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Waarvan<\/strong>?<\/em><\/p>\n

Daarvan<\/strong>!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Hij wijst naar de piano<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(I am really terrible at this<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

At what?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At that!<\/strong><\/p>\n

He points at the piano.)<\/p>\n

You can also think of it this way: “er\/daar\/hier\/waar\u00a0<\/em>(there\/there\/here\/where) + preposition” means essentially “preposition + dat\/dit\/wat\u00a0<\/em>(that\/this\/what)”.<\/p>\n

Hij kijkt graag naar<\/strong> de vogels in zijn tuin.<\/em><\/p>\n

Waarnaar<\/strong> kijkt hij graag? \/ Naar wat<\/strong> kijkt hij graag?<\/em><\/p>\n

Daarnaar<\/strong>! Naar dat<\/strong>!<\/em><\/p>\n

(He likes to look at the birds in his garden.<\/p>\n

At what<\/strong> does he like to look? \/ At what<\/strong> does he like to look?<\/p>\n

To that<\/strong>! \/\u00a0To that<\/strong>!)<\/p>\n

As we can see here, English only does the latter: “proposition + that\/this\/what”, whereas Dutch can do both interchangeably.<\/p>\n

OnzeTaal\u00a0<\/em>has a great article on the topic as well as a quiz<\/a> that can help you get a better grasp on the topic!<\/p>\n

If this explanation helped you, or if you have more questions, let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"er

Like many other languages, Dutch has a differentiation between\u00a0er\u00a0and\u00a0daar, which in English both translate to “there”. So what\u00a0is\u00a0that difference, how can you keep them apart, and what do you use when? “There” is the culprit Like the English word “some”, which has quite a range of translations in Dutch, “there” seems to be the reason…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":7474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[27710,3590],"tags":[551525,551524,6,551526,125,551528,551527],"class_list":["post-7472","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dutch-grammar","category-dutch-language","tag-daar","tag-er","tag-grammar","tag-place","tag-prepositions","tag-pronoun","tag-there"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t