Learn Hardcore Dutch: We praten er later nog over tijdens het diner. - We will talk about it later during dinner.

Er is a placeholder pronoun that stands in for “it” or “about it.” In Dutch, when you talk praten over iets (to talk about something), you can replace iets with er. Here it means “about that topic.”

Why is over at the end of the sentence instead of next to praten?

Because praten over is a separable verb. In a main clause the prefix or preposition (over) splits off and goes to the very end. The finite verb (praten) stays in second position.

What does nog convey here?

Nog adds the sense that the discussion hasn’t happened yet but will occur later. It’s similar to “still” or “yet” in English: “We will still talk about it later.”

Why are later and nog placed in that order? Could you say nog later?

Dutch adverb order generally puts the time adverb (here later) before an aspectual adverb like nog. So later nog (“later still”) is the normal sequence. Nog later is not wrong but would shift the emphasis to “even later,” which sounds a bit unusual in this context.

Why is the present tense praten used to express a future action? Shouldn’t you use zullen?

In Dutch it’s very common to use the present tense for planned future events, especially when you provide a time reference. Using zullen (e.g. we zullen praten) makes the future explicit but isn’t required for near-future actions.

Could you add zullen for emphasis?

Yes. If you want to be extra clear about the future, you can say: We zullen er later nog over praten tijdens het diner. It sounds slightly more formal or deliberate.

Why is it tijdens het diner instead of op het diner or in het diner?

Dutch uses tijdens for “during” when referring to events.

Op is used for days and dates (e.g. op dinsdag).
In is used for broader periods like months or years (e.g. in juli, in de zomer).
So “during dinner” is tijdens het diner.

What’s the difference between we and wij here?

We is the unstressed, informal form of wij. In everyday speech and casual writing you almost always hear we. You’d use wij only for emphasis or in very formal contexts.

How do you pronounce praten, later, and diner?

Approximate pronunciations in IPA:

praten /ˈpraːtə(n)/ (“PRAA-tən”)
later /ˈlaːtər/ (“LAA-tər”)
diner /diːˈneːr/ (“dee-NEER”)
Note: The Dutch r can vary regionally (uvular or alveolar).