tungemål wrote:By the way, I noticed this little sentence:
"het waren er heel veel"
It stands out to me because I'd say "er waren heel veel". But I guess you need the "het"?
There is some difference between the two sentences. The first,
het waren er heel veel is: 'there were a lot
of them'. Whereas the second,
er waren heel veel is: 'there were a lot'.
The 'het' thing is because it's treated as a unified (pro)noun and so is referred to as 'it'. Both forms are used, but with these plural 'antecedents' you get het/dit/dat used quite a lot. Though also 'ze zijn'. Examples:
Mijn opa en oma liegen bijna nooit = my grandpa and grandma almost never lie
Ja, het zijn eerlijke mensen/ze zijn eerlijke mensen = Yes, they're honest people.
Het zijn waardeloze dingen = They are worthless things.
It's really common to hear: het zijn de beste mensen, rather than 'ze zijn' de beste mensen. You'll see such things as: '
Dit zijn de beste smartphones van 2022.' Where you might expect '
deze'.
