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Differences in pronouns

[voornaamwoorden]
A pronoun replaces a noun or another pronoun. E.g. 'he', 'which', or 'her'. There are different types of pronouns: personal, possessive, indefinite, relative... You can post your questions about Dutch pronouns here.

Differences in pronouns

Postby rawbean » November 15th, 2009, 4:36 pm

Zij - ze, jij - je, dit - dat - het, wij - we, etc. Daarvan kan ik niks begrijpen. xD

Dank je weer voor je help!
Last edited by Bieneke on November 15th, 2009, 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Afgesplitst van http://www.dutchgrammar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&p=19050#p19050
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Differences in pronouns

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Re: Differences in pronouns

Postby JazzedPotato » November 15th, 2009, 5:42 pm

rawbean wrote:Zij - ze, jij - je, dit - dat - het, wij - we, etc. Daarvan kan ik niks begrijpen. xD

Dank je weer voor je hulp!


Hoi rawbean,

Zij en ze are used interchangeably when they are referring to the subject of the sentence.
'Zij' sounds a little more formal and normally especially in colloquial Dutch we use 'ze'. The same for the difference between 'jij' and 'je', and 'wij' en 'we'.
'Je' and 'ze' however can be subject, indirect object or direct object ('we' can only be a subject). :)
Only when you want to emphasize or directly call out to people we use 'zij', 'wij' or 'jij'.

'Ze hebben een boek gekocht' = 'Zij hebben een boek gekocht' (subject).
'Jij hebt een boek gekocht' = 'Je hebt een boek gekocht' (subject).
But:

'Ik heb ze in de stad gezien' and ' Ik heb je in de stad gezien' (direct object: never 'zij' ,'wij' or 'jij').
'Ik heb ze een boek gegeven' and 'Ik heb je een boek gegeven' (indirect object: never 'zij' , 'wij' or 'jij').

Hey you (over there) = Hé jij daar!! (not: hé je daar..) because you are calling out directly to a person.
'Ik moest lopen terwijl jij lekker met de fiets ging..' (In this case I would prefer 'jij' to 'je' as I am emphasizing a difference between me and you).

As for 'dit' and 'dat': they are 'aanwijzend voornaamwoorden' (i.e. indicative pronouns) corresponding to 'this' and 'that'.
This difference can be a bit more subtle because in Dutch sometimes it is better to use 'het' whereas at other times it may be preferable to use 'dit' or 'dat'. It is difficult to give a general rule to this, I think you just need to see and hear it a lot, and keep practicing. :)

Hope this clarified matters for you somewhat. :)

groetjes,

- Jazzed -
" Roam with young Persephone.
Plucking poppies for your slumber . . .
With the morrow, there shall be
One more wraith among your number
. "
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