Breakdown of Er liggen hier wat koopjes tussen het zilverwerk.
hier
here
er
there (existential)
liggen
to lie
wat
something / some (a little)
tussen
between
het koopje
the bargain
het zilverwerk
the silverware
Questions & Answers about Er liggen hier wat koopjes tussen het zilverwerk.
I know wat means "what" or "a little" (like wat water). Can it be used with a plural countable noun like koopjes?
Yes! While you probably first learned wat as a question word or with uncountable nouns, in everyday Dutch it is also used before plural countable nouns to mean "some" or "a few". So wat koopjes means "some bargains". You could also use een paar koopjes or enkele koopjes.
Why do we use liggen here instead of zijn for "There are"?
Dutch heavily prefers positional verbs (staan, liggen, zitten) to describe locations, whereas English simply uses "to be". Since silverware and items for sale are usually resting flat on a table or in a pile, liggen is the natural choice. Using zijn here would sound unnatural to a native speaker.
Why does hier come before wat koopjes? Wouldn't "Er liggen wat koopjes hier..." make more sense?
In sentences starting with er as a placeholder subject, the actual, indefinite subject (in this case, wat koopjes) is pushed later in the sentence. It typically lands after time and place adverbs like hier.
Does tussen translate to "among" here? I thought it meant "between".
It means both! English makes a strict distinction between "between" (usually two distinct things) and "among" (a group or mass of things). Dutch does not make this distinction; tussen covers both concepts. So tussen het zilverwerk is the natural way to say "among the silverware".
Is koopjes a diminutive?
Yes, it is the plural diminutive of de koop (the purchase). While de koop refers to the act of buying or a purchase in general, the diminutive het koopje has taken on the specific everyday meaning of a "bargain" or "a steal".
Learn Er liggen hier wat koopjes tussen het zilverwerk 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