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Personal pronoun - Persoonlijk voornaamwoord
IntroductionPersonal pronouns stand in the place of nouns, and are normally used to refer back to someone or something that has been mentioned earlier.
Subject pronounThe subject of a sentence is the central ‘player' or ‘actor' in that sentence. It is, in a sense, what the sentence is about. Subject pronouns, therefore, are used as the subject of a sentence. In the sentence Ik kom uit Rotterdam, the subject is ik (‘I' in English), which is a subject pronoun.
Subject pronouns in Dutch can be stressed or unstressed. The stressed form is usually used in formal writing. The unstressed form is often the most common one in spoken Dutch, as long as no particular emphasis is needed on that personal pronoun. In the list below, the unstressed personal pronouns which appear in brackets are used in spoken Dutch only. Personal pronouns (subject) in Dutch:
Subject pronoun: useThe unstressed form of the subject personal pronoun is often the most common one in spoken Dutch, as long as no particular emphasis is needed on that personal pronoun.
Look at the second part of the first sentence. There, in the question, the stressed form of the personal pronoun is used, because Hanna has just said where she is from and now she wants to know where Alan is from. To contrast herself with Alan, she gives the personal pronoun jij extra emphasis. In English, extra emphasis would also be placed on the word you (‘And where are you from?'), but in Dutch the form of the pronoun changes too. In the third sentence, Hanna uses the unstressed form because there is no contrast. Note that in informal styles, the demonstrative pronoun die can be used as an alternative to stressed 3rd person pronouns to replace hij and zij (feminine singular as well as plural), e.g. Ik heb een hond en die heet Kasper. Similarly, dat can be used instead of het. In Dutch, people can be addressed formally or informally. People who are older than you, and people who have a higher status than you, are generally addressed with the personal pronoun u (the same form for singular and plural). It is safest to start addressing a person with this form (unless they are obviously younger than you or the same age), because they can always tell you to use the informal form instead. As a rough guide, on first acquaintance, anyone who is not a teenager or younger, will be addressed with u. So if, for example, you would like to ask an older person where they are from you would say:
When asking the same question to a person who is the same age as you or younger, you would say:
Referring to objects and animals In English, ‘it' is normally used to refer to things or animals. In Dutch, however, hij is generally used for common gender nouns (de-words) and het is used for neuter words (het-words). For example: People generally refer to animals with hij (‘he'). However, if the gender of the animal is known, zij or ze (‘she') may be used instead. For example: Direct object pronounA sentence normally contains a subject (“the central ‘player' or ‘actor' in that sentence”) and a verb. Often, but not necessarily, a sentence also contains an object. It is a second ‘player' or ‘actor' and is the object of the subject's activity. The object of a sentence can be referred to with an object pronoun.
The object in both sentences is een/de huisgenoot. In both the English and Dutch example, the repetition of the phrase seems odd. Object pronouns can be used to break the pattern. For example:
Some other examples are:
All subject pronouns have a corresponding object pronoun. As with subject pronouns, object pronouns in Dutch can be stressed or unstressed. The stressed form is usually used in formal writing. The unstressed form is often the most common one in spoken Dutch, as long as no particular emphasis is needed on that personal pronoun. In the list below, the unstressed personal pronouns which appear in brackets are used in spoken Dutch only. Both subject and object forms are given.
The fact that the third person plural has two different stressed forms may be confusing. Of these forms, hen is formally the correct one. Object pronoun: useStressed and unstressed
The unstressed form of the object personal pronoun is often the most common one in spoken Dutch, as long as no particular emphasis is needed on that personal pronoun.
Look at the second sentence. There, in the question, the unstressed form o the personal pronoun is used. Hanna wants to know if she can help Alan. There is only one person to address the question to, so it is obvious she would choose the unstressed form. The grammatically correct question Kan ik jou helpen? would place too much emphasis on the person to be helped, rather like in the English 'Can I help you?'. Note that in informal styles, the demonstrative pronoun die can be used as an alternative to stressed 3rd person pronouns to replace hem/haar en hen, e.g. Ik heb een hond en die heb ik al drie jaar. Similarly, dat can be used instead of het.
In Dutch, people can be addressed formally or informally. People who are older than you, and people who have a higher status than you, are generally addressed with the personal pronoun u (the same form for singular and plural). It is safest to start addressing a person with this form (unless they are obviously younger than you or the same age), because they can always tell you to use the informal form instead. As a rough guide, on first acquaintance, anyone who is not a teenager or younger will be addressed with u. In a shop, a shopkeeper will often ask an adult customer: Referring to objects and animals In English, ‘it' is normally used to refer to objects or animals. In Dutch, however, hem is used for common gender nouns (de-words) and het is used for neuter words (het-words). For example: People generally refer to animals with hem ('him'). However, if the gender of the animal is known, haar ('her') may be used instead. For example: Indirect object pronounA sentence normally contains an subject (the central 'player' or 'actor' in that sentence) and a verb. Often, but not necessarily, a sentence also contains an object, which is a second 'player' or 'actor' and undergoes the action. Apart from the subject and object, there can be a third 'actor' in a sentence. For example in the sentences below:
In the first pair of sentences (1), Sara is the subject and een kopje thee is the object - it is the thing that is given. Likewise, in the second set (2), Hanna is the subject and een boek is the object - that which is given. The recipient of the object, in our sentences Kenny/hem and Alan/hem respectively, are referred to as indirect object. In the (b) version of each sentence, the indirect object pronoun hem is used. In Dutch, indirect object pronouns have the same form as (direct) object pronouns, except in the third person plural. Formally, hun is the correct form of the third-person plural indirect object personal pronoun, but you will often come across unstressed ze instead.
Indirect object pronoun: useStressed and unstressed
The unstressed forms of the indirect object pronoun are the same as for the (direct) object pronoun, and are used in the same kinds of situations. The situations in which formal and informal indirect object pronouns are used, are the same as for for the (direct) object pronoun. Word order of direct object and indirect object When a sentence contains both a direct object and an indirect object, you have to be careful about word order. (1) Most of the time, the indirect object precedes the direct object.
The rule is: indirect object before direct object, if the DIRECT OBJECT IS A NOUN. Here, the direct object (that which is given) is een kopje thee, a noun, and therefore follows the indirect object. (2) when the direct object is a pronoun, however, this order is reversed: Sara geeft het hem. The rule is: direct object before indirect object, if the DIRECT OBJECT IS A PRONOUN: Here, the direct object (that which is given) is het, a pronoun, and therefore precedes the indirect object. The indirect object can be paraphrased by using the preposition aan + recipient:
Note that in the sentences above, the construction aan + recipient follows the direct object. This is the most common order, although it is also possible for aan + recipient to precede the direct object. Top of pageObject pronoun + prepositionObject pronouns can also appear after a preposition. This is often the case with phrasal verbs. In this case, an alternative without a preposition does not exist.
Ik hou van mijn moeder. Ik hou van haar. Hanna luistert naar Alan. Zij luistert naar hem. Note that in the third person plural, hen/ze is the only correct form in this case. e.g. Ik hou van mijn kinderen, ik hou van hen/ze. Top of page |
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