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De waarheid is dat er nog documenten ontbreken.

De waarheid is dat er nog documenten ontbreken.
The truth is that some documents are still missing.
FromLesson 24inHardcore Dutch
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Questions & Answers about De waarheid is dat er nog documenten ontbreken.

Why is er used in er ontbreken nog documenten?

In Dutch, er often functions as an expletive pronoun (a placeholder) to indicate existence, much like English “there” in “there are.” When you want to express that something exists (or is missing) in an indefinite amount, you place er before the verb and the subject:
Er ontbreken nog documenten = “There are still documents missing.”

What does ontbreken mean and how is it used?

Ontbreken means “to be missing” or “to lack.” It is an intransitive verb, so you don’t attach a direct object in the normal way. Instead, you typically combine it with er to talk about things that are missing:

  • Er ontbreekt een pagina (“A page is missing”)
  • Er ontbreken nog documenten (“There are still documents missing”)
Why does ontbreken appear at the end of the clause?

Because the sentence is split into a main clause and a subordinate clause introduced by dat. Dutch subordinate clauses follow Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order, so the finite verb (ontbreken) moves to the final position:
De waarheid is dat er nog documenten ontbreken.

What is the role of dat in this sentence?
Dat is a subordinating conjunction meaning “that.” It links the main clause De waarheid is (“The truth is”) with the subordinate clause dat er nog documenten ontbreken (“that there are still documents missing”).
Why is there no article before documenten?
In Dutch, plural nouns referring to unspecified or indefinite items usually appear without any article. You wouldn’t say een documenten in the plural—just documenten. If you wanted to specify “some documents,” you could add a quantifier like wat: er ontbreken nog wat documenten.
What is the function of nog here?
Nog means “still” or “yet.” It indicates continuity up to the present moment. In nog documenten ontbreken, it stresses that documents are still missing.
Can I rephrase this sentence more informally?

Yes. A colloquial alternative might be:
Eigenlijk ontbreken er nog wat documenten.
Here eigenlijk adds “actually,” and wat (“some”) makes the phrasing less formal.

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