Personal Pronouns & 'to be' / 'to have'
Personal Pronouns & 'to be' / 'to have'
Dutch pronouns split English's single 'you' into two forms, and its two most essential verbs — zijn (to be) and hebben (to have) — are irregular, just as their English counterparts are.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Personal pronouns: a formal 'you' English lost
ik, jij/je, hij/zij/het, wij, jullie, zij
I, you, he/she/it, we, you (pl.), they
English has one word for 'you' regardless of number or formality. Dutch distinguishes je/jij (informal) from u (formal, covered in Lesson 1), and also has a distinct plural jullie ('you all') where English relies on context or informal fixes like 'you guys.' hij/zij/het map directly onto English he/she/it.
zijn (to be) — irregular, just like English
ik ben, jij bent, hij/zij/het is, wij zijn, jullie zijn, zij zijn
I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, you are, they are
English 'to be' is wildly irregular (am/is/are/was/were), and Dutch zijn is too — there's no shortcut, you simply memorize the present-tense forms. The silver lining: because both languages irregularize this particular verb, the idea of an irregular 'to be' is already familiar to you; only the specific forms are new.
hebben (to have) — mostly regular, with a vowel change
ik heb, jij hebt, hij/zij/het heeft, wij hebben, jullie hebben, zij hebben
I have, you have, he/she/it has, we have, you have, they have
hebben follows the regular verb pattern closely, except hij/zij/het shifts to heeft rather than the expected hebt — a small irregularity similar to English's own have→has shift in the third person singular. Learn hebben solidly now: Dutch, much like English 'have', uses it as the helper verb for its most common past tense (the perfect tense), which you'll meet soon.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| Dutch | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik ben | ik ben | I am |
| jij bent | yay bent | you are (informal) |
| hij is | hey iss | he is |
| wij zijn | vay zayn | we are |
| ik heb | ik hep | I have |
| jij hebt | yay hept | you have (informal) |
| hij heeft | hey hayft | he has |
| wij hebben | vay HEB-en | we have |