Breakdown of De kast staat ervoor.
staan
to stand
de kast
the cabinet / the closet
ervoor
for it; in front of it
Questions & Answers about De kast staat ervoor.
Why is "in front of it" translated as a single word, ervoor?
In Dutch, you cannot combine a preposition with het (it). You cannot say "voor het". Instead, you replace "it" with er (there) and attach it to the front of the preposition. So, er + voor becomes the single word ervoor (literally "there-before").
Why does the sentence use staat instead of is?
When describing where something is located, Dutch prefers position verbs like staan (to stand), liggen (to lie), or zitten (to sit) over the simple verb zijn (to be). Because a cabinet (de kast) is a tall, upright object, we say it "stands" (staat).
Does ervoor always stay together as one word?
In a simple, short sentence like this, it stays fused together. However, if you add more details, er and voor often split apart. For example, if you say the cabinet is exactly in front of it, you would separate them: "De kast staat er precies voor."
Since voor can also mean "for", could ervoor mean "for it" here?
Yes, ervoor can mean "for it" in other contexts, because voor means both "in front of" and "for". However, because we are talking about a physical object (de kast) and using a spatial verb (staat), "in front of it" is the only meaning that makes logical sense here.
Learn De kast staat ervoor and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free