{"id":5340,"date":"2018-01-24T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=5340"},"modified":"2018-01-21T10:39:01","modified_gmt":"2018-01-21T10:39:01","slug":"back-to-basics-possession-and-pronouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/back-to-basics-possession-and-pronouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to Basics: Possession and Pronouns"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the mistakes I’ve caught myself consistently making is to mix up all of the pronouns when it comes to talking about people’s things. If it isn’t using\u00a0ik\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0je<\/em>, I cannot seem to get them straight in my head.<\/p>\n

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Photo taken by Steven Worster found on Flickr.com with license CC BY-ND 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n

Ik heb hun auto gebruikt…zij auto….de auto van wie?!?!?<\/em><\/p>\n

What is a pronoun?<\/h3>\n

The first question we must answer is what is a pronoun or a voornaamswoord<\/em>? These are things we learn very young in school and sometimes, it is hard to remember what it is even in our own language. According to the Oxford dictionary<\/a>, a pronouns are used in place of a noun that has already been mentioned or that is already known, often to avoid repeating the noun.<\/p>\n

So, instead of saying:<\/p>\n

Bob is sleeping. Bob<\/strong> is tired.<\/p>\n

We can say:<\/p>\n

Bob is sleeping. He<\/strong> is tired.<\/p>\n

Talking about possession<\/h3>\n

There are different types of pronouns, but for possession, there are two ways to go about it. You can use the possessive pronoun\u00a0 (third column) or you can use\u00a0van +\u00a0<\/em>personal pronoun in non-subject form (second column).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Subject<\/th>Personal Pronoun<\/th>Possessive Pronoun<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Ik<\/td>me\/mij<\/td>mijn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
je\/jij<\/td>je\/jou<\/td>je\/jouw<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
u<\/td>u<\/td>uw<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
hij<\/td>hem<\/td>zijn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ze\/zij<\/td>haar<\/td>haar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
het<\/td>het<\/td>zijn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
we\/wij<\/td>ons<\/td>ons\/onze<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
jullie<\/td>jullie<\/td>jullie<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ze\/zij<\/td>ze\/hen\/hun<\/td>hun<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Dit is mijn<\/strong> hond. (<\/em>This is my dog)<\/p>\n

Deze hond is van mij<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em>(This dog is mine)<\/p>\n

Dit zijn onze<\/strong>\u00a0honden.\u00a0<\/em>(These are our dogs)<\/p>\n

Deze honden zijn van ons<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em>(These dogs are ours)<\/p>\n

The bezittelijk voornaamswoord<\/em> or possessive pronoun is placed before the noun, so in the first and third sentence, it is before\u00a0hond\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0honden.\u00a0<\/em>When you want to emphasize the ownership of something, using\u00a0van<\/em> + non-subject form pronoun is the best way to go. The\u00a0van<\/em> gives you an extra something for emphasising.<\/p>\n

Deze hond is van mij<\/em>…..en niemand anders!<\/em><\/p>\n

It is important to learn to distinguish these, especially for when you are talking about yourself (using\u00a0ik<\/em>). The following video explains why.<\/p>\n