Erconstructies
Erconstructies are a class of Dutch syntactic constructions that use the expletive pronoun er to introduce a clause and to manage information structure. They are commonly used to express existence, location, or quantity, and they play a central role in contemporary Dutch grammar. The term is widely used in linguistic descriptions of Dutch, and it has parallels with expletive constructions in other Germanic languages.
In canonical forms, er precedes the finite verb and the postverbal noun phrase carries the semantic subject
Erconstructies encompass several subtypes. Existential constructions convey the mere existence of something, while locative constructions emphasize
Cross-linguistically, er-constructies resemble but are not identical to expletive there in English and to related patterns