Dutch personal pronouns (persoonlijk voornaamwoord)

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Dutch personal pronouns refer to a person, group of people or an object. As you will see below, there are different pronouns for subjects and objects.

Lesson outline

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1.Dutch subject pronouns
2.Dutch object pronouns
3.Exercises
3.1.Exercise to practice Dutch personal pronouns
3.2.Exercise personal pronouns (mixed pronouns)
3.3.Exercise Dutch personal pronouns (subject pronouns)
3.4.Exercise Dutch personal pronouns (object pronouns)

1) Dutch subject pronouns

The subject in a sentence is the one that performs the action. There are two forms of subject pronouns:

Stressed subject pronouns are used when the emphasis lies on the pronoun in the sentence.
However, unstressed subject pronouns are used more often.

Stressed subject pronoun	Unstressed subject pronoun	Translation
Ik	Ik	I
Jij	Je	You
U	U	You (formal)
Hij	Hij	He
Zij	Ze	She
Dit/dat	Het	It (het-nouns)
Deze/die	Hij	It (de-nouns)
Wij	We	We
Jullie	Jullie	You
Zij	Ze	They
Deze/die	Ze	They (lifeless objects)

You can replace the personal pronoun by a name if you are not sure – if it cannot be replaced by a name it is not a personal pronoun.

The stressed subject pronouns are used when the emphasis lies on the pronoun in the sentence:

Je hoeft niet naar school toe vandaag. You don't have to go to school today.
Jij hoeft niet naar school toe vandaag (maar ik wel). You don't have to go to school today (but I do).

Subject pronoun	Example	Translation
Ik	Ik ga naar school.	I go to school.
Jij (stressed) Je	Jij maakt het huiswerk. Je loopt naar de winkels.	You do the homework. You walk to the stores.
U	Pardon, kunt u mij de weg vertellen?	Excuse me, could you tell me the way?
Hij	Hij gaat naar huis.	He goes home.
Zij (stressed) Ze	Zij is weer te laat. Ze is er vandaag niet.	She is late again. She is not here today.
Dit/dat (het-nouns) (stressed) Het (het-nouns)	Dat (het mes) kan je toch niet gebruiken. Het (het shirt) is nu te koop in de winkels.	You cannot use that (the knife). It (the shirt) is now available in stores.
Deze/die (de-nouns) (stressed) Hij (de-nouns)	Die (de broek) heb ik net nieuwe gekocht. Hij (de film) komt volgende week in de bioscoop.	I just bought these (the jeans). It (the movie) is in the cinema next week.
Wij (stressed) We	Wij gaan morgen hardlopen. We kwamen te laat op school.	We are going to run tomorrow. We were late for school.
Jullie	Jullie eten veel.	You eat a lot.
Zij (stressed) Ze	Zij zijn altijd vrolijk. Ze luisteren niet.	They are always happy. They don't listen.
Deze/die (lifeless object) (stressed) Ze (lifeless object)	Deze (oorbellen) wil ik niet. Ze (de schoenen) zijn te groot.	I don't want these (earrings). They (the shoes) are too big.

'Dit'/'dat' and 'deze'/'die' are demonstrative pronouns

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2) Dutch object pronouns

We use an object pronoun when the personal pronoun is not the subject in the sentence. There are two forms of object pronouns:

Stressed object pronouns are used when the emphasis lies on the pronoun in the sentence.
However, unstressed object pronouns are used more often.

Stressed object pronouns	Unstressed object pronouns	Translation
Mij	Me	Me
Jou	Je	You
U	U	You (formal)
Hem	Hem	Him
Haar	Haar	Her
Dit/dat	het	It (het-nouns)
Deze/die	hem	It (de-nouns)
Ons	Ons	Us
Jullie	Jullie	You
Hun/hen	Ze	Them
Deze/die	Ze	Them

'Dit'/'dat' and 'deze'/'die' are demonstrative pronouns.

Object pronoun	Example	Translation
Mij (stressed) Me	Ze heeft dat aan mij verteld (en niet tegen jou). Ze heeft me dat verteld.	She has told that to me (and not to you). She has told that to me.
Jou (stressed) Je	Ik heb jou gister geholpen (en niet haar). Ik heb je gister geholpen.	I have helped you yesterday (and not her). I have helped you yesterday.
U	Ik liep met u mee.	I walked with you.
Hem	Ik ging met hem mee naar huis.	I went home with him.
Haar	Ik praat met haar.	I talk with her.
Dit/dat (het-noun) (stressed) Het (het-nouns)	Ik heb dat (het tasje) meegenomen. Ik heb het (het huis) gekocht.	I have taken that (the bag). I have bought it (the house).
Deze/die (de-nouns) (stressed) Hem (de-nouns)	Deze (de lepel) heb ik niet nodig, maar het mes wel. Ik hoef hem (de pen) niet.	I don't need this (the spoon), but I do need the knife. I don't need it (the pen).
Ons	Hij vertelde het verhaal gisteren aan ons.	He told us the story yesterday.
Jullie	Wij voetballen vaak met jullie.	We often play soccer with you.
Hun/hen (stressed) Ze	Ik ging met hen mee. Ik ging met ze naar de dierentuin.	I went with them. I went with them to the zoo.
Deze/die (lifeless object) (stressed) Ze (lifeless object)	Deze (de bananen) vind ik niet lekker. Ik vind ze (de appels) lekker.	I don't like these (the bananas). I like them (the apples).

Dutch personal pronouns (persoonlijk voornaamwoord)

Lesson outline

1) Dutch subject pronouns

Have a question?

Clarisse N.

Ana M.

Pascale V.

SANDRA L.

Daria O.

Angelo V.

Tsarina T.

Pelin C.

Katrien D.

Arjen J.

2) Dutch object pronouns

Exercises

Exercise to practice Dutch personal pronouns

Exercise personal pronouns (mixed pronouns)

Exercise Dutch personal pronouns (subject pronouns)

Exercise Dutch personal pronouns (object pronouns)

Exercises

Exercise to practice Dutch personal pronouns

Exercise personal pronouns (mixed pronouns)

Exercise Dutch personal pronouns (subject pronouns)

Exercise Dutch personal pronouns (object pronouns)

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