Er is one of the trickiest Dutch words. It has five main jobs:
- Existence (there is/are): Er is een probleem.
- Place (there), unstressed: Ben je er al geweest? — Have you been there yet?
- Quantity (of them), with numbers: Ik heb er twee. — I have two (of them).
- With prepositions (replaces het for things): Ik denk eraan. — I'm thinking about it. Wat vind je ervan?
- Passive without subject: Er wordt gedanst. — There is dancing.
With prepositions er can be split: Ik heb er niet aan gedacht. — I didn't think of it.
Special forms: met → ermee, tot → ertoe.