Pronouns in Dutch

A comprehensive guide to Dutch pronouns: subject, object, possessive, demonstrative, and reflexive pronouns.

1. What are pronouns?

Pronouns are words that replace nouns to avoid repetition. In Dutch, pronouns change form based on their function in the sentence (subject, object) and the person they refer to.

2. Subject and Object Pronouns

Subject pronouns are used as the subject of a sentence (who does the action). Object pronouns are used as the object (who receives the action).

Person Subject Object
1st singular (I) ik mij / me
2nd singular informal (you) jij / je jou / je
2nd singular formal (you) u u
3rd singular masculine (he) hij hem
3rd singular feminine (she) zij / ze haar
3rd singular neuter (it) het het
1st plural (we) wij / we ons
2nd plural (you) jullie jullie
3rd plural (they) zij / ze hen / ze
Examples:
Subject: Ik zie de hond. (I see the dog.)
Object: De hond ziet mij. (The dog sees me.)
Subject: Zij werkt hier. (She works here.)
Object: Ik help haar. (I help her.)
Subject: Wij gaan naar huis. (We go home.)
Object: Hij kent ons. (He knows us.)
💡 Note: me and je are unstressed forms, commonly used in spoken Dutch. mij and jou are stressed forms, used for emphasis or after prepositions.
hen vs ze: Use hen for people, ze for things or when unstressed.

3. Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show ownership. They agree with the noun they modify (de-words vs het-words).

Person Before de-words Before het-words
1st singular (my) mijn mijn
2nd singular informal (your) jouw / je jouw / je
2nd singular formal (your) uw uw
3rd singular masculine (his) zijn zijn
3rd singular feminine (her) haar haar
1st plural (our) onze ons
2nd plural (your) jullie jullie
3rd plural (their) hun hun
Examples:
mijn boek (my book - het-word)
mijn tafel (my table - de-word)
onze kinderen (our children - plural, always de)
ons huis (our house - het-word)
haar fiets (her bike - de-word)
hun auto (their car - de-word)
🔑 Important: ons (for het-words) vs onze (for de-words and plurals) is the only possessive pronoun that changes form. All others stay the same regardless of the noun's gender.

4. Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns point to specific things. They agree with the gender of the noun they refer to.

4.1 "Deze" and "die" (for de-words)

  • deze = this/these (near)
  • die = that/those (far)
deze tafel (this table)
die stoel (that chair)
deze boeken (these books)

4.2 "Dit" and "dat" (for het-words)

  • dit = this (near)
  • dat = that (far)
dit huis (this house)
dat boek (that book)
dit raam (this window)
💡 Remember: deze/die for de-words and plurals, dit/dat for het-words. This matches the pattern of de vs het articles!

5. The pronoun "er"

er is a very common word in Dutch with multiple uses. Here are the most important patterns:

5.1 "Er is" and "er zijn" (there is/there are)

Er is een boek op tafel. (There is a book on the table.)
Er zijn veel mensen hier. (There are many people here.)
Er is geen melk meer. (There is no milk left.)

5.2 "Er" with position verbs (er staat/ligt/hangt)

Common position verbs: staan (to stand), liggen (to lie), hangen (to hang), zitten (to sit), staan (to be located).

Er staat een boom in de tuin. (There is a tree standing in the garden.)
Er ligt een boek op de tafel. (There is a book lying on the table.)
Er hangt een schilderij aan de muur. (There is a painting hanging on the wall.)
Er zitten mensen in de bus. (There are people sitting in the bus.)

5.3 "Er" as a replacement for objects

er can replace prepositional objects (objects with prepositions like "van", "op", "in").

Ik denk aan het probleem. → Ik denk eraan. (I think about it.)
Hij praat over de film. → Hij praat erover. (He talks about it.)
Wij wachten op de bus. → Wij wachten erop. (We wait for it.)

6. Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and object of a verb are the same person. In English, these are words like "myself", "yourself", "himself".

Person Reflexive Pronoun
1st singular (myself) me / mij
2nd singular informal (yourself) je / jou
2nd singular formal (yourself) u
3rd singular (himself/herself/itself) zich
1st plural (ourselves) ons
2nd plural (yourselves) je / jullie
3rd plural (themselves) zich
Examples:
Ik was me. (I wash myself.)
Jij scheert je. (You shave yourself.)
Hij verveelt zich. (He bores himself / He is bored.)
Wij vergissen ons. (We mistake ourselves / We are mistaken.)
Zij gedragen zich goed. (They behave themselves well.)
💡 Common reflexive verbs: zich wassen (to wash oneself), zich aankleden (to dress oneself), zich herinneren (to remember), zich vergissen (to be mistaken), zich gedragen (to behave), zich vervelen (to be bored).

7. Quick Summary