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Er is altijd hoop.

Er is altijd hoop.
There is always hope.
From Lesson 156:Everyday things (het moment, de keer)·Dutch

Questions & Answers about Er is altijd hoop.

"Er" has many meanings in Dutch. What is its role in this sentence?
Here, er acts as a placeholder subject, just like "there" in the English phrase "There is". This is one of the easiest uses of er for English speakers because it translates directly word-for-word.
Why does altijd come after the verb is?
Dutch follows the verb-second rule in standard sentences. The verb is must be the second piece of information. The subject er takes up position one, so the verb is in position two, and the adverb altijd (always) has to come after it.
If I wanted to say "There are always problems", would I still use Er is?
No, the verb has to match the true subject that comes later in the sentence. Because "problems" (problemen) is plural, you would change the verb to match it: Er zijn altijd problemen. In our sentence, hoop is singular, so we use is.
Is the noun hoop related to the Dutch verb for "to hope"?
Yes! The verb "to hope" is hopen. If you take off the -en ending to find the basic stem of the verb, you get hoop, which is exactly the noun used here.

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