Breakdown of Er was 's nachts geen lawaai.
zijn
to be
geen
no / not any
er
there (existential)
's nachts
at night
het lawaai
the noise (loud, unpleasant)
Questions & Answers about Er was 's nachts geen lawaai.
Why is er used at the beginning of this sentence?
In this sentence, er acts as a dummy subject, much like "there" in the English translation "There was no noise." We use it to introduce an indefinite noun — in this case, lawaai (noise) — when we want to state that something simply exists or happens.
Where does the floating 's come from in 's nachts?
's nachts is a fixed expression meaning "at night." The 's is short for des, an old Dutch word for "of the." You will see this same pattern with other times of the day, like 's morgens (in the morning) and 's avonds (in the evening).
Why does the sentence use geen instead of niet for negation?
We use geen because lawaai (noise) is an indefinite noun, meaning it does not have words like "the" or "this" in front of it. In Dutch, you always negate indefinite nouns with geen (meaning "no" or "not any"). Since this lesson's er is specifically used to introduce indefinite things, geen is the perfect match here!
Could I put 's nachts at the end of the sentence, like in English?
It is much better to keep it where it is. In Dutch, expressions of time like 's nachts usually come as early as possible in the middle part of the sentence, right after the main verb (was). Putting it before geen lawaai is the most natural word order.
Learn Er was 's nachts geen lawaai and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free