Breakdown of Er stopt vaak een tram in onze straat.
een
a/an
in
in
vaak
often
onze
our (de-words, plurals)
stoppen
to stop
er
there (existential)
de straat
the street
de tram
the tram
Questions & Answers about Er stopt vaak een tram in onze straat.
Why does this sentence start with er instead of een tram?
In Dutch, when the subject is indefinite (like een tram instead of de tram), we usually do not put it at the beginning of the sentence. Instead, we use er as a dummy subject to fill that first spot, which pushes the real subject later into the sentence. This is very common when stating that something exists or happens somewhere.
Could I just say Een tram stopt vaak in onze straat without using er?
While a Dutch speaker would understand you, it sounds a bit unnatural. Dutch strongly prefers using this er construction when introducing an indefinite subject (een tram) performing a general action, especially with verbs related to location, motion, or position.
Why is the adverb vaak (often) placed before the subject een tram?
In sentences with a dummy er, adverbs of time and frequency (like vaak, altijd, or soms) usually come before the indefinite subject. That is why it is Er stopt vaak een tram instead of Er stopt een tram vaak.
Why is it onze straat and not ons straat?
Because straat is a de-word (de straat). For singular de-words and all plurals, the Dutch word for our is onze. You only use ons for singular het-words (like ons huis).
Learn Er stopt vaak een tram in onze straat 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