{"id":5895,"date":"2018-12-17T23:50:24","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T23:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=5895"},"modified":"2018-12-17T23:50:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T23:50:24","slug":"wil-or-wilt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wil-or-wilt\/","title":{"rendered":"Wil or wilt?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rather small conundrum, but an important one if you want to understand Dutch properly:\u00a0is it\u00a0jij wil\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0jij\u00a0<\/em>wilt<\/em>? Small difference, but is it significant? Let’s find out.<\/p>\n

The difference of one letter<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Jij wil or wilt? (Image by author)<\/p><\/div>\n

Willen<\/em>\u00a0(to want) is an important verb, often a\u00a0hulpwerkwoord<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(auxiliary verb). The official conjugation is as follows:<\/p>\n

ik wil\u00a0<\/em>(I want)<\/p>\n

jij\/u wilt\u00a0<\/em>(you (informal)\/you (formal) want)<\/strong><\/p>\n

hij\/zij\/het wil\u00a0<\/em>(he\/she\/it wants)<\/p>\n

wij willen\u00a0<\/em>(we want)<\/p>\n

jullie willen\u00a0<\/em>(you (plural) want)<\/p>\n

ze willen\u00a0<\/em>(they want)<\/p>\n

And today, we are discussing the conjugation for\u00a0jij\/u\u00a0<\/em>(you (singular)). There is something curious going on, because some will say, but also write\u00a0jij wil<\/em> instead of\u00a0jij wilt<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But what is the difference, if any?<\/p>\n

First of all, there is the rule in Dutch where any verb in the conjugation of\u00a0jij\/u<\/em> gets a\u00a0t\u00a0<\/em>at the end if jij\/u\u00a0<\/em>comes after the\u00a0persoonsvorm\u00a0<\/em>(verb of the subject), as is the case in a question, for example:<\/p>\n

Loop je op het strand?\u00a0<\/em>(Do you walk on the beach?)<\/p>\n

Je loopt op het strand.\u00a0<\/em>(You walk on the beach.)<\/p>\n

Or in a\u00a0bijzin<\/em> (subordinate clause):<\/p>\n

Als je op een strand loopt, loop je de kans nat te worden.<\/em>\u00a0(If you are walking on the beach, you are likely to get wet.)<\/p>\n

Unless\u00a0<\/strong>the verb already ends with a\u00a0t\u00a0<\/em>already:<\/p>\n

Je zit op de stoel\u00a0<\/em>(you are sitting on the chair.)<\/p>\n

Zit je op de stoel?\u00a0<\/em>(Are you sitting on the chair?)<\/p>\n

BUT this rule does not apply to\u00a0u:<\/em><\/p>\n

Loopt u op het strand?\u00a0<\/em>(Do you (formal) walk on the beach?)<\/p>\n

U loopt op het strand.\u00a0<\/em>(You (formal) walk on the beach.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But what about\u00a0willen<\/em>?<\/p>\n

You will see things like:<\/p>\n

Je wilt<\/strong> op het strand lopen.<\/em>\u00a0(you want to walk on the beach.)<\/p>\n

Je wil<\/strong> op het strand lopen.\u00a0<\/em>(you want to walk on the beach).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They mean the same!<\/p>\n

So what is correct?<\/p>\n

Well… Both are.<\/p>\n

Je wilt\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0u wilt\u00a0<\/em>is a more formal form,\u00a0je wil\u00a0<\/em>is a rather informal form.<\/p>\n

So you would really not want\u00a0to see\u00a0u<\/em> wil,\u00a0<\/em>as this is not formal, even though you would only address somebody with u\u00a0<\/em>if you would like to be formal. With je<\/em>, both\u00a0je wil\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0je wilt\u00a0<\/em>are fine. Even though\u00a0je wilt <\/em>is technically more correct. And less confusing. So I recommend you use\u00a0je wilt<\/em>!<\/p>\n

In Belgium, both\u00a0wil\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0wilt\u00a0<\/em>are considered formal\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>informal. So that distinction does not count for our Flemish neighbors.<\/p>\n

Kunnen & zullen<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

For the verbs\u00a0kunnen\u00a0<\/em>(can) and zullen\u00a0<\/em>(will), these issues exist as well:<\/p>\n

Je kan<\/strong> op het strand lopen.\u00a0<\/em>(You can walk on the beach.)<\/p>\n

Je kunt<\/strong> op het strand lopen.\u00a0<\/em>(You can walk on the beach.)<\/p>\n

Je\u00a0zal\u00a0<\/strong>op het strand lopen!\u00a0<\/em>(You will walk on the beach!)<\/p>\n

je zult\u00a0<\/strong>op het strand lopen!<\/em>\u00a0(You will walk on the beach.)<\/p>\n

Zal\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0kan\u00a0<\/em>are more informal,\u00a0zult\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0kunt\u00a0<\/em>are more formal. In Belgium, again, both are possible in formal situations.<\/p>\n

What do you think? What form do you prefer, what form do you mostly use? I usually just stick with\u00a0wilt<\/em>, but that is just me! Let me know in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

A rather small conundrum, but an important one if you want to understand Dutch properly:\u00a0is it\u00a0jij wil\u00a0or\u00a0jij\u00a0wilt? Small difference, but is it significant? Let’s find out. The difference of one letter Willen\u00a0(to want) is an important verb, often a\u00a0hulpwerkwoord\u00a0(auxiliary verb). The official conjugation is as follows: ik wil\u00a0(I want) jij\/u wilt\u00a0(you (informal)\/you (formal) want) hij\/zij\/het…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":5896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[60713,27710,3590],"tags":[3608,6],"class_list":["post-5895","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-2","category-dutch-grammar","category-dutch-language","tag-dutch","tag-grammar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t