'Er' by W. Voortman Wiki Dutch Word Order (EN)

This topic does not directly relate to the Dutch word order since 'er' is just an adverb. However, as the little word 'er' 1) is used so frequently and 2) sometimes makes the word order even more complicated, a few pages will be dedicated to this adverb here. In Dutch, the little word er is used very frequently, for five different purposes:

1. er as the unstressed form of daar, expressing location
2. er in combination with a preposition, replacing the pronouns het/hem (it) and ze (plural 'it')
3. er(van) in the sense of of it or of them (definite and indefinite numbers)
4. extra er at the beginning of a sentence
5. er as a subject

The position of er in a sentence depends on the type of er we are dealing with.