Breakdown of Er klinken stappen op de trap.
op
on
er
there (existential)
de trap
the stairs
klinken
to sound
de stap
the footstep / the step
Questions & Answers about Er klinken stappen op de trap.
Why do we start this sentence with er?
Dutch uses er to introduce a new, undefined subject into a sentence. Because stappen (footsteps) doesn't have a specific word like 'the' or 'my' in front of it, it is indefinite. Starting with er sounds much more natural than saying Stappen klinken op de trap and works exactly like 'there' in the English 'There are footsteps.'
Why is the verb klinken in the plural form?
Even though er sits at the front of the sentence, it is just a 'dummy' subject placeholder. The actual subject doing the sounding is stappen (footsteps). Since stappen is plural, the verb must also be plural.
Is stappen a verb or a noun here?
In this sentence, it is a plural noun meaning 'steps' or 'footsteps'. You might remember stappen as a verb meaning 'to step' or 'to walk', but here it is the noun making the sound.
The English translation says 'are sounding'. Why doesn't the Dutch sentence use a continuous tense?
Dutch rarely uses an exact equivalent to the English '-ing' form. The simple present tense verb klinken translates to both 'sound' and 'are sounding' depending on what makes the most natural sense in English.
Learn Er klinken stappen op de trap 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