Er-construction and Spelling rules

To pass the A2 writing exam, you need to write sentences that are grammatically complete and spelled correctly. Two common traps are forgetting the word er and making spelling mistakes when words become plural. This lesson teaches you how to start a sentence correctly and how to avoid the 'vowel-consonant' traps that cost candidates points in the Schrijven (Writing) section.

1. Starting with 'Er'

In Dutch, a sentence must have a subject. If you want to say 'There is a problem' or 'There are people,' you must use er. This is very useful for the klacht (complaint) part of the exam.

• Use er is for one thing (singular): Er is een probleem met de verwarming.
• Use er zijn for more than one thing (plural): Er zijn veel mensen in de winkel.

2. Spelling: The Long Vowel (maan - manen)

In the writing exam, spelling errors like maanen or mannen (when you mean 'moons') will lead to a lower score. Follow the 'Open Syllable' rule:

• Closed Syllable: If the vowel is trapped by consonants, you need two vowels for a long sound: maan (moon), boom (tree).
• Open Syllable: If you add an ending (like -en for plural), the syllable becomes 'open'. In an open syllable, you only need one vowel to keep the long sound: ma-nen, bo-men.

3. Spelling: The Short Vowel (kat - katten)

If a vowel is short, you must protect that short sound when the word gets longer. If you write katen, the 'a' becomes long (like 'manen'). To keep the 'a' short, you must double the consonant:

• kat (short 'a') → katten (double 't' keeps the 'a' short).
• bus (short 'u') → bussen (double 's' keeps the 'u' short).