Breakdown of Er wordt tijdens de uitzending met de luisteraar gepraat.
met
with
praten
to talk
worden
to become
er
there (existential)
de uitzending
the broadcast
tijdens
during
de luisteraar
the listener
Questions & Answers about Er wordt tijdens de uitzending met de luisteraar gepraat.
Why do we use er wordt ... gepraat here instead of just saying who is talking?
This is the impersonal passive voice, which is used when the action itself is more important than who is doing it. By combining er (there) with wordt (is/becomes) and the past participle gepraat (talked), the sentence translates smoothly to "talking takes place" or "there is talking."
Why is the verb gepraat all the way at the end of the sentence?
In Dutch, sentences with a helping verb push the second verb to the very end. Here, the helping verb wordt sits in the normal second position, sending the past participle gepraat to the end of the line.
What is the subject of this sentence, and why is the verb wordt singular?
Because there is no specific person acting as the subject, the word er acts as a dummy subject. In these impersonal passive sentences, Dutch always uses the singular verb wordt, no matter how many people might actually be talking.
How do I know that met goes with de luisteraar and not the broadcast?
The phrase comes from the verb praten met (to talk with). Even though the verb gepraat gets sent to the end of the sentence, the preposition met stays right next to the person being talked to (de luisteraar).
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