When _er_, _daar_ or _waar_ goes with a preposition (a word like _aan_, _op_ or _van_), Dutch usually splits the pair. The small word stays early in the sentence, and the preposition moves to the end, right before any verbs waiting there: _Ik heb er niet aan gedacht_ (I didn't think of it), _Daar heb ik niets van gemerkt_ (I didn't notice anything), _Waar heb je het over?_ (What are you talking about?).
In the [previous lesson](#/lesson/er-plus-preposition) you learned _erop_, _ervan_ and _daarmee_ as single words. In real conversations you will hear them split all the time, so this lesson shows where each half goes.
The pattern
_Er_, _daar_ and _waar_ stay early in the sentence, and their preposition moves back to stand just before the verbs at the end of the sentence.
- _Er_ comes early, usually right after the subject or the conjugated verb (the verb that changes with the subject): _Gisteren heb ik er niet aan gedacht._
- Other words in the middle (_niet_, _al_, _niets_, a time, an object) go between the two halves.
- The preposition stands right before the final verbs, also in a subordinate clause (a clause starting with a word like _omdat_ or _of_): _omdat ik er niet aan had gedacht_. With no final verb, it usually comes last: _Bas klaagt er elke dag over._
- With a separable verb (a verb like _opbellen_ that splits into two parts), the preposition comes before the separated part: _Ik kijk er erg naar uit._
- _Daar_ and _waar_ often start the sentence, and the preposition still waits at the end: _Waar wacht je op?_
- Spelling: one word when the parts touch (_Ik heb erover nagedacht_), two words when something stands between them (_Ik heb er lang over nagedacht_).
Examples
| Sorry, ik heb er helemaal niet aan gedacht. | Sorry, I completely forgot about it. |
|---|---|
| Daar heb ik niets van gemerkt. | I didn't notice a thing. |
| Waar heb je het over? | What are you talking about? |
| Fatima heeft er twee weken op moeten wachten. | Fatima had to wait two weeks for it. |
| Lotte vindt de regen niet erg, maar Bas klaagt er elke dag over. | Lotte doesn't mind the rain, but Bas complains about it every day. |
| De gemeente heeft er pas gisteren een brief over gestuurd. | The municipality didn't send a letter about it until yesterday. |
| Ik weet niet of Daan er zin in heeft. | I don't know if Daan feels like it. |
| Is dat de app waar je het over had? | Is that the app you were talking about? |
| Priya kijkt er erg naar uit. | Priya is really looking forward to it. |
Why it works this way
A Dutch sentence has a frame: the conjugated verb near the start and the other verbs at the end (see [the verb bracket](#/lesson/verb-bracket)). Inside that frame, short unstressed words like _het_, _me_ and _er_ tend to sit at the front. Words that belong tightly to the verb sit at the back: separable parts, and the fixed preposition of verbs like _denken aan_, _wachten op_ and _klagen over_ (more in [verbs with a fixed preposition](#/lesson/verbs-with-prepositions)). So _er_ is pulled forward, its preposition is pulled back, and Dutch lets each half go where it belongs.
Remember: treat the preposition like the _op_ of _opbellen_. You say _Ik bel je morgen op_, so you say _Ik denk er morgen aan_.
With _er_, the split is the normal pattern. With _daar_ and _waar_, the joined form is also correct: _Daarvan heb ik niets gemerkt_, _Waarover heb je het?_ These sound more formal or written; in conversation and most work emails the split version is more common. _Daar_ is the stressed word (that one), so it can open a sentence. Unstressed _er_ does not normally open a sentence in this meaning, so at the start you say _daar_.
English speakers have a head start, because English also leaves prepositions behind: What are you waiting for? Two things change in Dutch: _wat_ becomes _waar_, and the preposition goes before the final verbs, not after them: _Waar heb je op gewacht?_ German speakers often keep the pair together, as standard German usually does, and say _niet eraan_. That is not the normal Dutch order: in a neutral sentence, Dutch says _er niet aan_.
Watch out
- Not: _Ik kijk er erg uit naar._ Say: _Ik kijk er erg naar uit._ (_naar_ goes before the separable part _uit_, not after it)
- Not: _Wat heb je het over?_ Say: _Waar heb je het over?_ (with a preposition, _wat_ becomes _waar_)
- Not: _Ik ben bang voor het._ Say: _Ik ben er bang voor._ (the pronoun _het_ does not follow a preposition; _er_ takes its place and _voor_ goes to the end)
- Not: _Ik weet niet of ik er tijd heb voor._ Say: _Ik weet niet of ik er tijd voor heb._ (in a subordinate clause the preposition still comes before the verb at the end)
Quick check
- Your colleague is explaining something and you have lost track. Fill in the question word: _... heb je het over? Ik kan je even niet volgen._
- Fill in the preposition: _Lotte heeft geen zin in de buurtbarbecue, maar Carlos heeft er wel zin ..., want hij kent de hele straat._
- Choose the correct sentence: _Mei heeft er al een uur op gewacht._ or _Mei heeft er al een uur gewacht op._
- Choose _er_ or _daar_: _Was er gisteren een stroomstoring? ... heb ik niets van gemerkt._
Answers
- _Waar_ (with a preposition, _wat_ becomes _waar_, and _over_ stays at the end)
- _in_ (the expression is _zin hebben in_; with no final verb, the preposition ends the clause)
- _Mei heeft er al een uur op gewacht._ (the preposition comes before _gewacht_, not after it)
- _Daar_ (the first position needs stressed _daar_, not unstressed _er_)
Use it today
Send a friend or colleague a short message about something coming up this week, using two split forms, for example _Ik kijk er erg naar uit_ and _Ik heb er nog niet over nagedacht_.