_Ten_ and _ter_ are the little word _te_ with an old article glued onto it, left over from a time when Dutch still had cases, as German does. They live on in set expressions such as _ten eerste_ (firstly), _ter plaatse_ (on the spot) and _te koop_ (for sale). You do not need to analyse them: learn each one as a ready-made chunk and you will recognise it in formal texts and on signs.
The pattern
_Ten_ and _ter_ are frozen forms of _te_ plus an old article, and plain _te_ survives in set phrases too. Learn each phrase as one unit of vocabulary.
- _ten_ (from old _te den_): _ten eerste_ (firstly), _ten slotte_ (finally), _ten noorden van_ (north of), _ten opzichte van_ (compared with).
- _ter_ (from old _te der_): _ter plaatse_ (on the spot), _ter gelegenheid van_ (on the occasion of), _ter inzage_ (available for inspection).
- plain _te_: _te koop_ (for sale), _te huur_ (for rent), _te allen tijde_ (at all times), _te voet_ ([on foot](#/lesson/transport-prepositions)), and in official documents _te_ plus a place name: _geboren te Utrecht_ (born in Utrecht).
- Nothing is added or changed: no extra _de_ or _het_, and old endings stay, so _ter plaatse_ keeps its _-e_.
- _Ten eerste_ and _ten slotte_ fill the first slot of the sentence, so the finite verb comes right after them ([verb second](#/lesson/verb-second)).
- Typical habitat: letters from the _gemeente_, contracts, the news, speeches, and signs in windows and front gardens.
Examples
| Ten eerste is de huur veel te hoog, en ten tweede ligt het appartement pal naast het spoor. | Firstly, the rent is far too high, and secondly, the flat is right next to the railway line. |
|---|---|
| Ten slotte wil ik Fatima bedanken, zonder wie dit project nooit van de grond was gekomen. | Finally, I would like to thank Fatima, without whom this project would never have got off the ground. |
| Na de aanrijding op de A12 was de brandweer binnen tien minuten ter plaatse. | After the collision on the A12, the fire brigade was on the scene within ten minutes. |
| Het vakantiepark ligt een paar kilometer ten noorden van Zwolle, midden in de bossen. | The holiday park is a few kilometres north of Zwolle, in the middle of the woods. |
| Ter gelegenheid van Lottes afscheid na dertig jaar trouwe dienst wordt er vrijdag een borrel gehouden. | On the occasion of Lotte's farewell after thirty years of loyal service, there will be drinks on Friday. |
| In de Jordaan staat een karakteristiek grachtenpand te koop, maar de vraagprijs liegt er niet om. | A characterful canal house is for sale in the Jordaan, but the asking price is no joke. |
| Sinds de bakker is vertrokken, staat het winkelpand al maanden te huur. | Since the baker left, the shop premises have been up for rent for months. |
| De plannen voor het nieuwe fietspad liggen tot 15 november ter inzage op het stadskantoor. | The plans for the new cycle path can be inspected at the city office until 15 November. |
| Ten opzichte van vorig jaar is het aantal fietsdiefstallen in de binnenstad met een kwart gedaald. | Compared with last year, the number of bicycle thefts in the city centre has fallen by a quarter. |
Why it works this way
Centuries ago Dutch showed the job of a noun by changing the article, much as German still does. After _te_, the article took its dative form: _den_ before masculine and neuter nouns, _der_ before feminine ones. _Te den_ contracted to _ten_ and _te der_ to _ter_, just as German turns "zu dem" into "zum" and "zu der" into "zur". As Dutch gradually lost its cases, these chunks were already frozen, so they stayed. Some carry a second fossil, an old _-e_ on the noun: _ter plaatse_, _ten slotte_, _ten tijde van_.
That history leaves a rough pattern. _Ter_ often comes before abstract nouns in _-ing_, _-heid_ or _-tie_, and formal writers still coin new phrases on that model: _ter illustratie_, _ter voorbereiding op_. _Ten_ often comes before het-words: _ten behoeve van_, _ten gevolge van_. This is a tendency, not a rule (_ten tijde van_ contains the de-word _tijd_), so learn the chunk instead of calculating it.
Plain _te_ is the same old preposition, meaning roughly at or in, so do not read _te koop_ as too anything. Many more frozen combinations without _te_ follow in [fixed prepositional phrases](#/lesson/prepositional-phrases).
Remember: _ten_ and _ter_ come with the article already packed inside, so nothing else goes in. No _de_, no _het_, and no swapping _ten_ for _ter_.
Watch out
- Not: _Ter slotte wil ik iedereen bedanken voor de inzet._ Say: _Ten slotte wil ik iedereen bedanken voor de inzet._ (the fixed chunk is _ten slotte_)
- Not: _Ten gelegenheid van haar pensioen kreeg Sanne een elektrische fiets._ Say: _Ter gelegenheid van haar pensioen kreeg Sanne een elektrische fiets._ (the fixed chunk is _ter gelegenheid van_)
- Not: _Onze oude auto is voor verkoop._ Say: _Onze oude auto is te koop._ (a word-for-word copy of the English for sale)
- Not: _Haarlem ligt west van Amsterdam._ Say: _Haarlem ligt ten westen van Amsterdam._ (compass phrases use _ten_ plus the form in _-en_)
- Not: _Ten eerste, de huur is veel te hoog._ Say: _Ten eerste is de huur veel te hoog._ (_ten eerste_ fills the first slot, so the verb follows at once)
Quick check
- Fill in the gap: _Die bovenwoning aan de Kerkstraat staat al weken ... huur._
- Choose _Ten_ or _Ter_: _... gelegenheid van het honderdjarig bestaan van de voetbalclub krijgt elk lid een gratis sjaal._
- Choose _te_, _ten_ or _ter_: _Bij een storing kunt u ... allen tijde het servicenummer bellen._
- Fix the sentence: _Ten opzicht van vorig jaar zijn de energieprijzen flink gestegen._
Answers
- _te_: the fixed chunk is _te huur_, just like on the signs.
- _Ter_: the chunk is _ter gelegenheid van_, and nouns in _-heid_ tend to take _ter_.
- _te_: _te allen tijde_ uses plain _te_; the old ending sits on _allen_.
- _Ten opzichte van vorig jaar zijn de energieprijzen flink gestegen._ The chunk keeps its old _-e_: _opzichte_.
Use it today
This week, collect three phrases with _ten_, _ter_ or _te_ from _Te koop_ signs, a letter from the _gemeente_ or a news site. Write each one into a sentence about your own street, such as _Op de hoek staat een bovenwoning te huur._