Many Dutch pronouns do not allow a preposition before them. If a preposition shows up, it immediately turns into a pronominal adverb. On the next page, all Dutch pronouns that behave this way are outlined.
Let us first look at how it works exactly.
We will take the personal pronoun _het_ (it) as an example. If _het_ is preceded by a preposition, it turns into _er_ (there).
This is what happens:
preposition + het | | er +preposition
If the graphic illustration is a bit too abstract, look at the sentences below and you will see what I mean.
Hij protesteert tegen het onrecht. | He protests against the injustice.
Hij protesteert ertegen. | "He protests thereagainst."
Not: hij prostesteert ~~tegen het~~. | He protests against it.
We doken in het water. | We dived into the water.
We doken erin. | "We dived thereinto."
Not: we doken ~~in het~~. | We dived into it.
The pronominal adverb does not always occur in one piece. It is usually separated by other words, as the sentences below show us.
Hij protesteert al jaren tegen het onrecht. | He has been protesting against the injustice for years.
Hij protesteert er al jaren tegen. | He has been protesting against it for years.
We doken meteen in het water. | We immediately dived into the water.
We doken er meteen in. | We immediately dived into it.
The separation of the pronominal adverb is a [word order](#/lesson/WordOrder.00) issue, which is discussed [here](#/lesson/WordOrder.29) (note that this link takes you to a page right in the middle of the word order section - don't be alarmed if you do not understand everything!).
'Het' is not the only pronoun that can turn into a pronominal adverb ('er'). The same happens to several other pronouns. E.g. 'wat' (turning into 'waar') and 'dat' (turning into 'daar'), to name a few.
Continue to the next page to see which other Dutch pronouns are subject to this mechanism.