Pronominal adverb


A pronominal adverb is a type of adverb occurring in a number of Germanic languages, formed in replacement of a preposition and a pronoun by turning the former into a prepositional adverb and the latter into a locative adverb, and finally joining them in reverse order.
For example:
In English, pronominal adverbs are most commonly encountered in literary registers or in legal usage. They are used frequently by lawyers and drafters of legal documents primarily as a way of avoiding the repetition of names of things in the document. For this reason, pronominal adverbs are often seen as a type of legal jargon.

Usage in Dutch

In Dutch, pronominal adverbs are very common and are almost mandatory in many situations; neglecting to use them often makes a phrase sound unnatural to native speakers. Dutch maintains a three-way distinction of reference in its demonstrative pronouns, with pronouns for things close by and far away, and a third pronoun that is unspecific for distance. This distinction is faithfully reflected in the use of pronominal adverbs, and other pronouns also often have a corresponding adverbial form.
PronounPronoun + "met"MeaningAdverbAdverb + "met"Meaning
datmet datwith thatdaardaarmeetherewith
ditmet ditwith thishierhiermeeherewith
hetmet het with iterermeetherewith
watmet watwith whatwaarwaarmeewherewith
allesmet alleswith everythingoveraloveral meeeverywhere with
ietsmet ietswith somethingergensergens meesomewhere with
nietsmet nietswith nothingnergensnergens meenowhere with