Breakdown of Er blijft geen enkele kruimel over.
er
there (existential)
geen enkel
not a single / no ... whatsoever (also geen enkele)
overblijven
to remain / to be left
de kruimel
the crumb
Questions & Answers about Er blijft geen enkele kruimel over.
Why is it geen enkele kruimel with an -e on the end of enkele?
Because kruimel is a de-word (de kruimel). When using the phrase geen enkel(e) to mean "not a single," you must add an -e to enkel if the noun is a de-word. If you were talking about a het-word, like het probleem (the problem), you would say geen enkel probleem.
What is the difference between saying geen kruimel and geen enkele kruimel?
Could I make the noun plural and say geen enkele kruimels?
No, geen enkel(e) must always be followed by a singular noun. This works exactly like English, where you say "not a single crumb" rather than "not a single crumbs."
Why does the word over appear at the very end of the sentence?
It is part of the separable verb overblijven (to remain / to be left over). In a standard main clause, the conjugated part of the verb (blijft) takes the second position, while the prefix (over) gets kicked to the end of the sentence.
Why do we start this sentence with Er instead of the actual subject?
In Dutch, when the subject of a sentence is undefined or indefinite (like "a crumb", "some people", or "not a single crumb"), we often use er in the first position as a dummy subject. This is very similar to saying "There remains not a single crumb" in English.
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