Breakdown of Vandaag wordt er in de wijkraad over het draagvlak gepraat.
vandaag
today
in
in
praten
to talk
worden
to become
over
about
er
there (existential)
de wijkraad
the neighborhood council
het draagvlak
the support / the backing
Questions & Answers about Vandaag wordt er in de wijkraad over het draagvlak gepraat.
Why is er used in this sentence if over already has an object (het draagvlak)?
In this sentence, er is acting as a 'dummy subject' (like 'there' in 'there is'), rather than combining with the preposition to mean 'about it'. Because this is an impersonal passive sentence focusing on the action of talking rather than who is doing it, and there is no direct object to become the new subject, Dutch requires er to fill the empty subject position.
What is the active equivalent of this passive sentence?
An active version would need a specific subject, like 'de mensen' (the people) or 'ze' (they). For example: Vandaag praten ze in de wijkraad over het draagvlak. Turning it into the passive with wordt er ... gepraat removes the specific people and puts all the focus on the action itself.
How would the sentence change if we wanted to say 'Today, it is being talked about in the neighborhood council'?
You would replace over het draagvlak with the combination erover (about it). However, since the sentence already needs a dummy subject er, the two ers merge into one. The sentence becomes: Vandaag wordt er in de wijkraad over gepraat. The er now acts as both the dummy subject and the 'it' that is being talked about.
What kind of 'support' does draagvlak refer to?
Draagvlak (literally 'carrying surface') is a very common term in Dutch politics, business, and community management. It means 'backing', 'broad approval', or 'consensus' from a group of people for a plan. If there is a lot of draagvlak for a neighborhood project, it means the residents like and support the idea.
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