Breakdown of Toen de kraan lekte, zette ik er een emmer onder.
ik
I
er
there
een
a, an
zetten
to put
toen
when
onder
under
de kraan
the tap
lekken
to leak
de emmer
the bucket
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Questions & Answers about Toen de kraan lekte, zette ik er een emmer onder.
What does toen mean in this sentence, and when do we use it?
Toen here means “when” and introduces a single, completed event in the past. Use toen for specific past moments (e.g. “Toen ik arriveerde…” – “When I arrived…”).
Why is lekte placed at the end of the clause Toen de kraan lekte?
Because toen is a subordinating conjunction. In Dutch subordinate clauses, the finite verb goes to the end, so you get …toen de kraan lekte rather than lekte de kraan.
Why does the main clause start with zette ik instead of ik zette?
After an initial adverbial clause, Dutch main clauses invert subject and verb (V2 rule). Since Toen de kraan lekte occupies the first position, the next element is the verb (zette), then the subject (ik).
What is the function of er in zette ik er een emmer onder?
Here er is a locative pronoun standing in for onder de kraan (“under the tap”). It replaces that prepositional phrase to avoid repetition: literally “I put a bucket under it.”
Why is onder at the end of the sentence? Is it a preposition?
No. Onder is the separable prefix of the verb onderzetten (“to place under”). In Dutch main clauses, separable prefixes detach and move to the end, so you have zetten in the clause and onder at the very end.
Can I rephrase the sentence without using er? How?
Yes. Spell out the location fully:
“Toen de kraan lekte, zette ik een emmer onder de kraan.”
Here you explicitly say onder de kraan instead of replacing it with er.
What’s the difference between toen, wanneer, and als when they all translate as “when”?
- Toen: for specific past events (“Toen het regende, bleef ik thuis.”).
- Wanneer: in questions or for general/future time (“Wanneer begint de film?”).
- Als: for repeated actions or conditional/future contexts (“Als ik tijd heb, ga ik wandelen.”).