Breakdown of Er was gisteren zo'n zware overstroming in de stad.
zijn
to be
in
in
de stad
the city
zwaar
heavy / severe (of a punishment) / tough, hard
gisteren
yesterday
er
there (existential)
zo'n
such a
de overstroming
the flood
Questions & Answers about Er was gisteren zo'n zware overstroming in de stad.
Why do we use zo'n in this sentence instead of zulke?
Because overstroming is a singular, countable noun. The word zo'n is literally a contraction of zo and een (such a). If you were talking about multiple floods, you would use zulke zware overstromingen (such severe floods).
Why does zware get an -e ending after zo'n?
Because zo'n contains the word een (a/an), it follows the same adjective rules as een. Since overstroming is a de word, the adjective gets the standard -e ending. If it were a het word, it would get no ending, for example: zo'n zwaar ongeluk (such a severe accident).
Why is gisteren placed before the main subject zo'n zware overstroming?
In Dutch, time words like gisteren prefer to sit early in the sentence, usually right after the finite verb. Here, er acts as a placeholder subject. This gives us er + was (verb) + gisteren (time), followed by the actual subject of the sentence, the flood.
Does zware usually mean heavy?
Yes, zwaar literally means heavy. However, in Dutch it is the standard word used to describe severe weather, disasters, or accidents. So een zware overstroming means a severe flood, and een zware storm is a severe storm.
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