Learn Dutch: Er zitten daar drie haringen in. - There are three tent pegs in there.

This sentence needs an existential er at the beginning because we are introducing an indefinite subject (drie haringen). It also needs a prepositional er to mean 'in it' or 'in there' (erin). However, Dutch avoids putting two er's in the same clause. To prevent a double er, the second one is substituted with daar, creating daar ... in.

Wait, doesn't haringen mean 'herrings'?

Yes, haring is the Dutch word for the fish (herring). But it is also the standard word for a 'tent peg'! They got this name because early wooden tent pegs apparently resembled the shape of a herring.

Why use zitten instead of zijn here?

While you could technically use zijn, Dutch strongly prefers posture verbs like zitten, staan, and liggen to describe where things are located. Because the tent pegs are enclosed (like in a bag) or stuck into something (the ground), zitten is the most natural choice. It implies being contained or firmly lodged inside something.

Could I keep daarin together as one word, like 'Er zitten daarin drie haringen'?