Breakdown of Er woont geen enkele bewoner in dat verlaten gebouw.
in
in
wonen
to live
dat
that (het-words)
er
there (existential)
het gebouw
the building
geen enkel
not a single / no ... whatsoever (also geen enkele)
verlaten
to leave / to abandon (a place or person)
de bewoner
the resident / the inhabitant (of a house or building)
Questions & Answers about Er woont geen enkele bewoner in dat verlaten gebouw.
Why is it enkele and not just enkel?
Because bewoner is a de-word (de bewoner). When you use geen enkel with a de-word, it gets an -e ending, becoming geen enkele. If it were a het-word, it would stay geen enkel.
Why is bewoner singular here?
The phrase geen enkel(e) translates to 'not a single' and is always followed by a singular noun in Dutch. You cannot use it with a plural noun.
Why does the sentence start with Er woont instead of just Geen enkele bewoner woont?
While you could start with the subject, Dutch strongly prefers using Er (there) as a dummy subject when the real subject (geen enkele bewoner) is indefinite, meaning it doesn't use specific words like 'the' or 'that'.
Why doesn't the adjective verlaten (abandoned) get an -e ending here?
Because verlaten already ends in -en. In Dutch, adjectives that end in -en, such as past participles or material adjectives, never get an extra -e ending added to them.
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