When you leave out the noun after a number or an amount word such as _veel_, _weinig_, _een paar_ or _geen_, Dutch adds the little word _er_. Someone asks _Hoeveel kinderen heb je?_ and you answer _Ik heb er twee_. English stops at "I have two", but Dutch needs _er_ to stand in for the noun you dropped.
The pattern
If a number or amount word stands without its noun, put _er_ in the sentence. _Er_ takes the place of the noun you left out.
- The left-out noun is something you can count: children, apples, chairs, bikes.
- The trigger words: numbers, _veel_, _weinig_, _een paar_, _geen_, _genoeg_ and _hoeveel_.
- _Er_ usually comes early, right after the verb and the subject. The amount stays where the noun would have been: _Ik heb er gisteren drie gekocht._
- In a subordinate clause (a part of a sentence that starts with a word like _dat_ or _omdat_ and puts its verb at the end), you get the same split: _dat ik er drie heb_.
- With [er is and er zijn](#/lesson/er-is-er-zijn) you may hear two: _Er zijn er drie._ If the two would stand side by side, one _er_ does both jobs: _Ik denk dat er drie zijn._
- A one-word answer has no sentence around it, so no _er_: _Hoeveel? Drie._
Examples
| Hoeveel kinderen heeft Fatima? Ze heeft er drie. | How many children does Fatima have? She has three. |
|---|---|
| Heb je broers of zussen? Nee, ik heb er geen. | Do you have brothers or sisters? No, I don't have any. |
| De appels waren in de aanbieding, dus Daan heeft er tien gekocht. | The apples were on offer, so Daan bought ten. |
| Priya kent veel mensen op haar werk, maar in haar eigen straat kent ze er weinig. | Priya knows lots of people at work, but she knows few in her own street. |
| Hoeveel fietsen staan er in de schuur? Er staan er vijf. | How many bikes are there in the shed? There are five. |
| We hebben stoelen van de buren geleend, omdat we er zelf niet genoeg hadden. | We borrowed chairs from the neighbours because we didn't have enough ourselves. |
| De huisarts vroeg hoeveel tabletten ik nog had, en ik zei dat ik er nog zes had. | The GP asked how many tablets I had left, and I said I had six left. |
| Lotte had koekjes gebakken voor haar verjaardag, maar ze heeft er zelf maar een paar gegeten. | Lotte had baked biscuits for her birthday, but she only ate a few herself. |
Why it works this way
Think of _er_ as a pointer. You have just mentioned children, apples or chairs, and _er_ points back at them while the number says how many. English has a loose version in "three of them" or "I don't have any", but there it is optional. In Dutch the pointer belongs in the sentence, so _Ik heb twee_ sounds as if you forgot a word.
If you speak French, you know this already: "j'en ai deux" works the same way. Speakers of English, German, Spanish and Arabic tend to forget _er_, because in those languages a number can stand alone.
_Er_ points at an open amount, part of a group. When you mean the whole group, with _allebei_ or _allemaal_, use _ze_ instead: _Die boeken? Ik heb ze allebei gelezen._
Why does _er_ move forward while _drie_ stays behind? Small unstressed words like _er_, _het_ and _hem_ like to sit close to the verb. The number is the news, so it stays further back, where the stress falls. This is one of [the four jobs of er](#/lesson/er-overview).
Remember: when the noun leaves, _er_ moves in, and the number stays where it was.
Watch out
- Not: _Ik heb twee broers en Daan heeft drie._ Say: _Ik heb twee broers en Daan heeft er drie._ (the second _broers_ is left out, so _er_ fills its place)
- Not: _Ik wilde aardbeien kopen, maar ze hadden geen meer._ Say: _Ik wilde aardbeien kopen, maar ze hadden er geen meer._ (_geen_ without its noun needs _er_ too)
- Not: _Er waren veel mensen op het feest, maar ik kende weinig._ Say: _Er waren veel mensen op het feest, maar ik kende er weinig._ (same rule for _veel_ and _weinig_)
- Not: _Die twee boeken? Ik heb er allebei gelezen._ Say: _Die twee boeken? Ik heb ze allebei gelezen._ (_allebei_ means the whole group, so use _ze_)
Quick check
- Fill in the gap: _Hoeveel collega's heb je? Ik heb ... twaalf._
- Choose _er_ or _ze_: _Ik had tien boterhammen gesmeerd, maar Bas heeft ... allemaal opgegeten._
- Fix the sentence without repeating the noun: _Mijn buurvrouw heeft drie katten en ik heb geen._
- Choose _er_ or _er er_: _Hoeveel bussen rijden er op zondag? Ik denk dat ... maar twee rijden._
Answers
- _er_: _collega's_ is left out after _twaalf_, so _er_ takes its place.
- _ze_: _allemaal_ means the whole group, not an open amount.
- _Mijn buurvrouw heeft drie katten en ik heb er geen._ (_geen_ without its noun needs _er_)
- _er_: the two would stand side by side, so one _er_ does both jobs.
Use it today
Answer three how-many questions about your own life out loud in full Dutch sentences: children, bikes, houseplants or colleagues (_Ik heb er geen_ counts too). Then, at the market or the bakery, point at what you want and say _Ik neem er zes._