The Formal Subject <i>Er</i> in Interrogative Sentenceswith Pronouns <i>Wie / Wat</i> in Dutch
This article is devoted to the particle er, which serves as a formal subject in declarative and interrogative sentences. In both the first and second types of clauses, er can be omitted. The official Dutch grammar Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst notes the irregularity of this phenomenon and the impossibility of deriving a rule according to which er can be omitted. We, following the researchers of the formal subject in the declarative sentence, make an assumption about the pragmatic function of er, which determines its presence or absence in the interrogative sentence.