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Er zijn twee winkels op de hoek.

Er zijn twee winkels op de hoek.
There are two shops on the corner.
From Lesson 52:There is / there are (er is, er zijn)·Dutch

Questions & Answers about Er zijn twee winkels op de hoek.

Why do we use zijn instead of is in this sentence?
Because we are talking about twee winkels (two shops), which is plural. Er zijn translates to 'there are', while er is means 'there is'.
Can I change the word order to Op de hoek zijn er twee winkels?
Yes, you can! If you start the sentence with the location (Op de hoek), the verb zijn must stay in the second position. This pushes the word er to the third spot.
Why does winkel become winkels and not winkelen in the plural?
In Dutch, nouns that end in unstressed syllables like -el, -em, -en, and -er almost always take an -s to become plural. Since winkel ends in -el, it becomes winkels.
Is op de hoek a fixed phrase?
Yes! Just like in English, you say that something is 'on' the corner. You will use op de hoek very often when giving or receiving street directions in Dutch.

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