Er is hier helemaal niemand, zelfs de gids niet.
There is absolutely no one here, not even the guide.
Breakdown of Er is hier helemaal niemand, zelfs de gids niet.
zijn
to be
hier
here
niet
not
helemaal
completely
er
there (existential)
niemand
no one
de gids
the guide
zelfs
even
Questions & Answers about Er is hier helemaal niemand, zelfs de gids niet.
How does helemaal niemand translate to "absolutely no one"?
The word helemaal means "completely" or "entirely". When you put it right in front of a negative word like niemand (nobody), niets (nothing), or niet (not), it acts as an amplifier. So helemaal niemand literally translates as "completely nobody", which we say in English as "absolutely no one" or "nobody at all".
Why is the translation "not even the guide", but the Dutch says zelfs de gids niet?
English puts the negative word first ("not even"), but Dutch splits them up. The word zelfs (even) goes before the noun phrase, and the negating word niet (not) is pushed to the end. This is a very common pattern to memorize: zelfs + [noun phrase] + niet.
Why does hier come before helemaal niemand?
In sentences that start with the placeholder Er, words that indicate a specific place (like hier) generally come before the indefinite subject. Here, helemaal niemand is the true subject of the sentence, so it gets placed after the location.
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