Breakdown of Ondanks het feit dat we gretig eten, blijven er kliekjes over in de pan.
eten
to eat
in
in
er
there (existential)
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
Questions & Answers about Ondanks het feit dat we gretig eten, blijven er kliekjes over in de pan.
Why use ondanks het feit dat instead of just hoewel?
They mean practically the same thing ("despite the fact that" vs. "although"). Ondanks het feit dat is slightly more formal and emphatic. Notice that ondanks is a preposition ("despite"), so to connect it to a whole clause with a subject and verb, we have to add het feit dat ("the fact that").
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb blijven?
The entire first part of the sentence (Ondanks het feit dat we gretig eten) acts as a single block occupying the first position. In Dutch main clauses, the conjugated verb must come second, so blijven immediately follows the comma.
What is the function of er in blijven er kliekjes over?
Here, er acts as a dummy subject, much like "there" in the English phrase "there remain leftovers". Because the real subject (kliekjes) is indefinite (we are not talking about specific leftovers, just leftovers in general), Dutch requires er to introduce them.
Where does over come from in this sentence?
It is part of the separable verb overblijven, which means "to remain" or "to be left over". Because the second half of the sentence acts as a main clause, the verb splits. The conjugated part (blijven) takes the second position, and the prefix (over) moves toward the end of the clause.