er - Home

UNIT ELEVEN
Pronominal adverbs
Introduction
Pronominal adverbs are used to refer to things when the verb or the object
in the sentence take a preposition. The question “Do you ever think about
the future?” could be answered: “Yes, I think about it a lot”, or “No, that
I never think about”. When we use a preposition in English with unemphasized
‘it’ or emphasized ‘this’ or ‘that’, in Dutch we use a pronominal
adverb beginning with er, daar or hier.
Some examples
Denk je aan je medicijnen? Ja, ik zal eraan denken.
Remember your medication. Yes, I’ll remember it.
Heb je over dat ongeluk gelezen? Ja, ik heb erover gelezen.
Did you read about that accident? Yes, I read about it.
Wilt u een stuk van deze kaas? Ja, ik wil hier wel een stuk van.
Would you like a piece of this cheese? Yes, I’d like a piece of this.
Kijk je wel eens naar “Jeopardy”? Nee zeg, daar kijk ik niet naar.
Do you ever watch Jeopardy? Geez no, that I never watch.
Pronominal adverbs in questions
When used in questions, the combination wat + preposition is changed into
waar + preposition. Examples:
Waarover praten jullie? What are you talking about?
We praten over politiek. We are talking about politics.
Waartegen protesteren die mensen? What are those people
protesting against?
Ze protesteren tegen kernenergie. They are protesting against
nuclear power. 77