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Dutch pronouns

The Dutch subject pronouns are ik (I), jij/je (you, informal), u (you, formal), hij (he), zij/ze (she), het (it), wij/we (we), jullie (you, plural) and zij/ze (they). Most come in a stressed form for emphasis and an unstressed form for ordinary speech, and the same pattern runs through the object and possessive pronouns below. The choice learners worry about most is social rather than grammatical: informal je or formal u.

Subject pronouns

Subject pronouns are the words that do the verb: ik (I), jij (you), and so on. Notice that several have a stressed and an unstressed variant. In normal speech and writing you use the unstressed form; you only reach for the stressed form when you want to contrast or emphasise the person.

So Ik weet het niet ("I don't know") is neutral, but Ik weet het niet with heavy stress on ik means "I don't know (but maybe someone else does)." The unstressed -ie for hij appears after a verb: Heeft-ie dat gezegd? ("Did he say that?"). You will hear it constantly but rarely need to write it.

Third person singular: hij, zij and het

In the third person singular, hij means “he”, zij/ze means “she” and het means “it”. All three take the same verb form: stem + t (hij werkt, ze werkt, het werkt).

For things, Dutch does not simply use “it”. A pronoun that refers back to a specific noun follows that noun’s gender: het for a het word, and in the Netherlands hij for a de word.

• Waar is het boek? Het ligt op tafel. — Where is the book? It is on the table.
• Waar is de fiets? Hij staat buiten. — Where is the bike? It is outside.
• Die film? Die heb ik al gezien. — That film? I’ve seen it already. (Speakers often use the demonstrative die or dat at the start of the sentence instead.)

In Belgium, and in careful northern writing, feminine de words (many abstract nouns, nouns in -heid, -ing, -tie) are referred to with zij/ze: de regering … zij. Everyday Netherlands speech uses hij for nearly all de words. Which article a noun takes is covered in de or het.

All the ways to say “you”

Dutch has more second-person pronouns than English, and they split by number and formality:

U has no separate plural. Addressing a group formally, you still say u with a singular verb: Komt u maar binnen (“do come in”, to one guest or to ten). In speech jullie is often used even to a group you would address individually as u, but in formal writing stay with u.

Informal je (and men, which is more formal) also serves as generic “you/one”: Je kunt daar goed eten (you can eat well there) or Men zegt dat… (people say that…).

When to use the stressed forms

The stressed (or “marked”) forms jij, zij, wij, mij, jou, hem are used when the pronoun carries contrast or emphasis, and they are the only possible forms in some positions:

• Contrast: Wij gaan, zij blijven thuis. (We are going; they are staying home.)
• Standing alone: Wie heeft dat gedaan? – Hij! (Who did that? He did!)
• After en, of and in comparisons: jij en ik, groter dan hij.
• After prepositions (usually): voor mij, met jou, bij hem.

Some unstressed forms never appear in writing (’k, -ie, ’m, d’r), but je, ze, we and me are fully standard in written Dutch, including newspapers. Using only the stressed forms makes a learner sound emphatic or stiff.

U or je? The formality choice

Dutch, like French or German, distinguishes a polite "you" (u) from a familiar one (je/jij). Getting this right is social rather than grammatical, and the conventions differ across the language area.

In the Netherlands, use u with strangers who are clearly older than you, in formal writing, and in service situations where you are the customer being addressed. Use je with friends, family, colleagues, children and anyone who has invited you to. The Dutch drift toward je quickly and easily — many companies address customers with je deliberately to sound approachable. When in doubt with an adult stranger, start with u and let them downgrade you.

In Belgium (Flanders), the picture is different. Spoken Flemish widely uses gij/ge as an everyday second-person pronoun — it is not archaic there the way it is in the Netherlands, and it is neither especially formal nor informal in casual speech. Flemish speakers tend to reserve u for genuine politeness and use ge/gij among equals. The object form of gij is also u, which can confuse learners: in a Flemish sentence u may simply be the object of a familiar gij, not a marker of respect.

Grammatically, u takes a third-person-singular verb form in the modern standard: u heeft or u hebt (both accepted), u kunt, u bent (from zijn, borrowed from the jij form rather than hij is).

Object pronouns

Object pronouns receive the action (direct or indirect object) and follow prepositions. Again, most have a stressed and an unstressed form.

Examples: Ik zie je morgen ("I'll see you tomorrow"); Geef het aan mij ("Give it to me" — stressed, because it follows a preposition and is emphatic).

Hen, hun or ze?

The distinction between hen and hun is one of the most debated points in Dutch, and even native speakers disagree. The prescriptive rule taught in schools: hen is the direct object and the form used after prepositions (Ik zie hen, "I see them"; Ik geef het aan hen), while hun is the indirect object without a preposition (Ik geef hun een boek, "I give them a book"). In practice most speakers ignore this and use ze for everything unstressed, or hun across the board in casual speech. Using hun as a subject (Hun hebben dat gedaan) is widespread in speech but strongly stigmatised in writing — avoid it. When unsure, the safe written choice is hen after prepositions and ze otherwise.

Possessive pronouns

Possessives tell you whose something is. Most are invariable, but ons agrees with the noun: it becomes onze before de-words and plurals, and stays ons only before singular het-words.

Watch two easy traps. First, jouw (possessive "your", with a w) is different from jou (object "you", no w) — they sound identical, so the spelling is what distinguishes them. Second, hun is both an object pronoun ("them") and the possessive ("their"); context tells them apart.

Pronouns connect to several other corners of the grammar: they trigger the verb endings you attach to each person, they interact with word order when they move around the verb, and reflexive pronouns like zich get their own treatment under reflexive verbs. For putting them to use in real conversation, see introducing yourself.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Dutch subject pronouns?

Ik, jij/je, u, hij, zij/ze, het, wij/we, jullie and zij/ze. The forms after the slash are the unstressed variants used in ordinary speech and writing.

Should I say je or u in Dutch?

Use u with adult strangers, older people, officials and in formal letters; use je with friends, family, colleagues, children and anyone who invites you to. In the Netherlands people switch to je quickly, so starting with u and waiting to be told otherwise is the safe choice.

What is the formal version of je in Dutch?

The formal version is u, and its possessive is uw: Hoe heet u? (What is your name?, formal) versus Hoe heet je?, and Wat is uw adres? versus Wat is je adres?

What is the plural of u in Dutch?

U is both singular and plural. To address a group formally you still say u with a singular verb, as in Komt u binnen. The informal plural is jullie.

What are the Dutch plural object pronouns?

Ons (us), jullie (you) and hen, hun or unstressed ze (them). Formally, hen is the direct object and follows prepositions, while hun is the indirect object; in speech most people just say ze.

What are unstressed pronouns in Dutch?

They are the short forms used when the pronoun is not emphasised: je for jij, ze for zij, we for wij, me for mij. They are the normal, default forms; the stressed forms are for contrast and emphasis.