Breakdown of Zal er iets overblijven?
zullen
shall / will
er
there (existential)
iets
something
overblijven
to remain / to be left
Questions & Answers about Zal er iets overblijven?
Why is er used in this sentence?
In Dutch, when the logical subject of a sentence is indefinite (like the word iets, meaning "something" or "anything"), you usually need er to act as a "dummy" or provisional subject. It works similarly to the English word "there" in "Will there be anything left?"
Overblijven is a separable verb. Why isn't it split up into over and blijven here?
Separable verbs only split when they are the conjugated (active) verb in a main clause. Because this sentence uses the auxiliary verb zal (will), the main verb overblijven is pushed to the very end of the sentence as a full, un-split infinitive.
Why doesn't the sentence start with the subject iets?
Because this is a yes/no question, it must start with the conjugated verb (zal). The dummy subject er directly follows the verb, and the actual indefinite subject (iets) comes right after that.
How would I answer this question with "Not a single thing will remain", using the emphatic negation from this lesson?
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