Breakdown of Er waren 's nachts veel sirenes.
zijn
to be
veel
much / many / a lot of
er
there (existential)
's nachts
at night
de sirene
the siren
Questions & Answers about Er waren 's nachts veel sirenes.
Why do we start this sentence with Er?
Er acts as a "dummy subject" here, similar to "There" in the English phrase "There were...". In Dutch, when you introduce a new, indefinite subject (like veel sirenes — you are just stating that they exist, not talking about specific ones), you use Er to introduce them.
If Er is in the subject spot, why is the verb plural (waren instead of was)?
Even though Er sits at the front as a placeholder, the real subject of the sentence is veel sirenes (many sirens). Because sirenes is plural, the verb must take the plural form waren to match it.
What is the deal with the apostrophe in 's nachts?
's nachts is a fixed expression meaning "at night" or "during the night". The 's is an abbreviation of des, an old forgotten word meaning "of the". You will see this exact same pattern in other time expressions, like 's morgens (in the morning) and 's avonds (in the evening).
Could I put the time at the end and say "Er waren veel sirenes 's nachts"?
You will be understood, but it sounds unnatural. In Dutch, expressions of time (like 's nachts) generally want to be placed as early as possible after the first verb. Therefore, it steps in front of veel sirenes.
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