Breakdown of Er was veel lawaai, hoewel de straat leeg was.
zijn
to be
veel
much / many / a lot of
leeg
empty
er
there (existential)
de straat
the street
hoewel
although
het lawaai
the noise (loud, unpleasant)
Questions & Answers about Er was veel lawaai, hoewel de straat leeg was.
Why do we use er at the beginning of this sentence?
In Dutch, when introducing an indefinite subject—something general or unspecific like a lot of noise (veel lawaai)—we use er as a dummy subject. It works exactly like "there" in the English phrase "There was a lot of noise."
If er is a "dummy" subject, what is the actual subject of the first clause?
The real subject is veel lawaai (a lot of noise). Because it is indefinite (it does not say "the" noise or "that" noise), Dutch grammar puts the dummy subject er in the normal subject spot, while the real subject comes after the verb.
Why is the verb was at the very end of the second part of the sentence (de straat leeg was)?
The word hoewel (although) introduces a dependent clause. In Dutch, starting a clause with a subordinating conjunction like hoewel pushes the conjugated verb (was) all the way to the end of that clause.
Why do we use veel instead of vele before lawaai?
Lawaai (noise) is an uncountable noun. In Dutch, you use veel without an -e at the end for uncountable nouns. You only use vele for countable, plural things.
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