As you read on the previous page, the Dutch have several pronouns with a stressed or 'marked' and a regular, unmarked form. I will repeat them here:

English	Dutch - unmarked	Dutch - marked
You	je	jij
She	ze	zij
It [het-nouns]	het	dit, dat See demonstratives
It [de-nouns]	hij	deze, die See demonstratives
We	we	wij
they [persons]	ze	zij
they [inanimate]	ze	demonstratives deze, die

Ik (I), hij for persons (he), and jullie (plural you) do not have separate words for marked and unmarked pronouns.

If we want to stress inanimate het/hij (it) and ze (they), we use a demonstrative pronoun.

While the Dutch make no distinction between masculine and feminine nouns, the Flemish use ze for inanimate feminine nouns. If you want to stress inanimate ze, you have to use a demonstrative pronoun (just like for inanimate het, hij, and plural ze)

How to use marked pronouns

We use marked pronouns if we want to stress the pronoun in a sentence. This sounds easy enough as you are free to choose which pronouns you wish to emphasize. In your speech, however, you must make sure that you do not place the stress on an unmarked pronoun.

To place emphasis on a word in a sentence, the Dutch slightly:

• increase the pitch (the melody goes ‘up’)
• raise their volume
• stretch the duration (length) of the word

If you use an unmarked pronoun, make sure to emphasize another part in the sentence.

In the following examples, the word(s) that receive emphasis (and should be pronounced accordingly) are underlined.

Examples

Je and jij:

Unmarked	Je hoeft je geen zorgen te maken.	You do not have to worry.
Marked	Jij hoeft je geen zorgen te maken (maar ik wel).	You do not have to worry (but I do).

Ze and zij:

Unmarked	Ze wilde niet mee.	She did not want to come along.
Marked	Zij wilde niet mee (maar de anderen wel).	She did not want to come along (but the others did).

Het and dit/dat:

Unmarked	Het staat nog steeds te koop.	It is still for sale.
Marked	Dat staat nog steeds te koop (maar die andere huizen zijn al verkocht).	That (one) is still for sale (but the other houses are already sold).

Hij and deze/die:

Unmarked	Hij is gloednieuw.	It is brand new.
Marked	Deze is gloednieuw (maar die andere auto niet).	This (one) is brand new (but the other car is not).

We and wij:

Unmarked	We waren op tijd.	We were on time.
Marked	Wij waren op tijd (de anderen niet).	We were on time (the others were not).

Ze and zij (persons):

Unmarked	Dat zeggen ze altijd.	They always say that.
Marked	Dat zeggen zij altijd (iemand anders zegt dat).	They always say that (noone else says that).

Ze and deze/die (inanimate):

Unmarked	Ze zijn tijdelijk afgeprijsd.	They are temporarily discounted.
Marked	Deze zijn afgeprijsd (maar die niet).	They are discounted (but those are not)

For someone who is learning Dutch, it is often difficult to determine when a pronoun needs to be stressed (marked). This skill can only be aquired by experience. It may be helpful to know that unmarked pronouns are more commonly used than marked pronouns.