• Dutch1
  • Frisian
  • Saterfrisian
  • Afrikaans
Show all
5.4.Idiomatic pronominal PPs
quickinfo

In some cases, pronominal PPs with er are part of an idiomatic construction. The examples in (111) show that replacement of er by one of the other R-pronouns normally leads to ungrammaticality; for a more extensive discussion of the construction in (111a), we refer the reader to Section A10.1, sub III.

111
a. Ze ziet er/*daar goed uit.
  she  looks  there  nice  uit
  'Sheʼs looking well/good.'
d. We trokken er/*daar op uit.
  we  went  there  op uit
  'We went on a trip.'
b. Marie is er/*daar gloeiend bij.
  Marie is  there  glowing  bij
  'Marie has been caught in the act.'
e. Hij kreeg er/*daar van langs
  he  got  there  van langs
  'Somebody severely hit him.'
c. Hij is er/*daar met mijn spullen van door.
  he  is there  with my things  van door
  'He made off with my things.'

In the examples in (112) replacement of er by one of the other R-pronouns results in the loss of the idiomatic reading, as is clear from the fact that the primed examples can only be interpreted literally; hier in (112a) must be construed as a place adverb and in (112b&c) the pronominal PPs daar .. op and hier .. in must be construed referentially.

112
a. De trein komt er aan.
  the train  comes  there  aan
  'The train is arriving (soon).'
a'. De trein komt hier aan.
  the train  comes  here  at
  'The train arrives here.'
b. Hij sloeg er meteen op.
  he  hit  there  immediately  op
  'He was immediately violent.'
b'. Hij sloeg er/daar meteen op.
  he  hit  there  immediately  on
  'He hit on it/that immediately.'
c. Marie trapte er niet in.
  Marie kicked  there  not  in
  'Marie wasnʼt fooled by that.'
c'. Marie trapte er/daar niet in.
  Marie stepped  there  not  into
  'Marie didnʼt step into it/that.'
readmore
References:
    report errorprintcite