Learn Dutch: Er is iets in het gebouw in deze straat. - There is something in the building in this street.

Er is iets in het gebouw in deze straat.

There is something in the building in this street.

Breakdown of Er is iets in het gebouw in deze straat.

Questions & Answers about Er is iets in het gebouw in deze straat.

Why do we use Er is at the beginning of this sentence?

Er is means "there is". You use it to introduce a new, unspecified thing into the conversation, just like in English. Because the subject iets (something) is singular, we use is. If we were talking about multiple things, we would use Er zijn (there are).

Can I just say "Iets is in het gebouw" instead of using Er?

You will be understood, but it sounds very unnatural in Dutch. When you want to say that an indefinite person or thing (like iets, meaning "something") is in a certain place, Dutch strongly prefers to start the sentence with the "there is" structure: Er is.

Why is it deze straat and not dit straat?

Because the word for "street" is a de-word (de straat). In Dutch, you use deze (this) for all singular de-words. If you wanted to say "this building", you would use dit (dit gebouw) because gebouw is a het-word.

Does the preposition in work exactly the same as in English here?