jij
See also: їй
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch ji, northern form of gi, from Old Dutch gī, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, a northwest Germanic variant of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Doublet of gij.
Cognate with Low German ji, jie, English ye, West Frisian jimme, German ihr. See also gij, u.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jɛi̯/ (stressed), IPA(key): /jə/ (unstressed)
audio (file) - Hyphenation: jij
- Rhymes: -ɛi̯
Pronoun
jij
- (second-person singular subjective personal pronoun) you
- Jij was er niet.
- You weren't there.
- Jij was er niet.
- (indefinite personal pronoun, informal, chiefly in the unstressed form) one, people, you, someone, anyone; an unspecified individual or group of individuals (as subject or object)
- Je mag hier niet zwemmen. ― Swimming is not allowed here.
- 1995 May 23, Marleen Barth, “'Politiek moet leren luisteren naar scholen' ['Politicians must learn to listen to schools']”, in Trouw, page 4:
- „Als je als directeur ondernemend van aard bent en je kunt goed leidinggeven, dan ben je natuurlijk wel gelukkig met meer vrijheid. Maar dat geldt voor veel directeuren niet.(...)"
- "If a headteacher is entrepreneurial by nature and if he or she is a good manager, they'll obviously be happy with more freedom. But this does not apply to many headteachers.(...)"
- (personal pronoun, colloquial, chiefly in the unstressed form) I, one; used to talk about oneself indirectly, especially about feelings or personal experiences
- Je gaat wel even een moeilijk periode door, maar je zoekt toch naar een oplossing. ― I did go through a difficult period, but I looked for a solution nonetheless.
- 1994 December 31, Wang An Oe, “'Voor een paar tientjes was ik ineens directeur' ['For a couple of tenners, I suddenly became a CEO']”, in Leeuwarder Courant, page 17:
- Het echtpaar Duijm uit Spijkenisse toog zo'n vier maanden geleden naar de Kamer van Koophandel omdat meneer en mevrouw wel wat zagen in een strijkservice. (...) „Voor ƒ 58 inschrijfgeld waren we plotseling directeur en directrice. Na afloop voel je weer de frisse lucht buiten en dan denk je wel even: waar zijn we aan begonnen?"
- About four months ago, Mr and Mrs Duijm from Spijkenisse went to the Chamber of Commerce because the couple saw business potential for an ironing service. (...) "For a ƒ58 registration fee, we were suddenly CEOs. Afterwards, I felt the fresh outside air again and at that moment I did think to myself: what did we get ourselves into?"
- 2022 October 31, Gummbah, De Volkskrant (cartoon), retrieved 23 November 2022:
- Hoe gaat het nou?
Slecht !... Ja, je hebt toch net je moeder begraven, hè- How are things?
Bad! After all, I just buried my mother, right?
- How are things?
Inflection
Dutch personal pronouns
| subject | object | possessive | reflexive | genitive5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | pred. | ||
| 1st person | ik | 'k1 | mij | me | mijn | m'n1 | mijne | me | mijner, mijns |
| 2nd person | jij | je | jou | je | jouw | je | jouwe | je | jouwer, jouws |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person masculine | hij | ie1 | hem | 'm1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| 3rd person feminine | zij | ze | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | hare | zich | harer, haars |
| 3rd person neuter | het | 't1 | het | 't1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| plural | |||||||||
| 1st person | wij | we | ons | – | ons, onze2 | – | onze | ons | onzer, onzes |
| 2nd person | jullie | je | jullie | je | jullie | je | – | je | – |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal6 | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person | zij | ze | hen3, hun4 | ze | hun | – | hunne | zich | hunner, huns |
| 1) Not as common in written language. 2) Inflected as an adjective. 3) In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). 4) In prescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative). | 5) Archaic. Nowadays used for formal, literary or poetic purposes, and in fixed expressions. 6) To differentiate from the singular gij, and in a similar vein to "you lot" or "you guys" in English, it is common to use gijlui ("you people") or gijlieden ("you people") or one of their contracted variants, and their corresponding objects, possessives and reflexives, in the plural. | ||||||||
Related terms
- je
- jullie
Descendants
- Afrikaans: jy
- Berbice Creole Dutch: ju
- Jersey Dutch: jāi
- Negerhollands: joe, ju
- Petjo: jij
Verb
jij
- first-person singular present indicative of jijen
- imperative of jijen