The same way of constructing is used with all the prepositions: daarop – on that; daarboven – above that; daarna – after that; daarachter – behind that, enzovoort – and so on. Once you get the hang of it, and as long as you know the correct preposition, it’s quite easy: zijn antwoord daarop was voorspelbaar – his answer to that was predictable; daarmee kun je het schoonmaken – you can clean it with that. Sometimes the daar word refers to more than one: wat is het verschil daartussen? – what is the difference between them?

The compounds often refer to time: de week daarvoor – the week before; daarnet – just now; kort daarop – shortly after that; eerst ... en daarna – first ... and then; de daaropvolgende zondag kwam hij niet – the next Sunday he didn’t come (“there up-following”).

Others are used when talking about space: hij is daarboven – he’s upstairs; daarbinnen is het warm – it’s warm inside; jij moet daarbuiten blijven – you must keep out of it.

Learners soon discover that they can’t say much in Dutch before they have to resort to a daar word. So when you arrive alone and have to explain why your friend isn’t with you, you could simply say Tom is ziek – Tom is ill. But you will probably have the urge to round this off with daardoor kon hij niet komen – that’s why he couldn’t come.

And if you don’t want to say why even when pressed, a daar word will come in handy. She asks waarom niet? – why not? You can reply with daarom niet – because I say so (“therefore not”). It’s a bit curt, but it does have a certain symmetry about it.

The daar words are quite demonstrative; you can choose to use the weaker er words: ijs met chocola erop – ice-cream with chocolate on it; kom erin – come inside; ik kom eraan – I’m on my way; het zit erop – it’s finished.