The pattern
Put the possessive pronoun before the noun and choose it by the owner, not by the thing. In everyday Dutch it keeps the same form, except ons, which becomes onze before de-words and plurals.
- ik: mijn (my)
- jij: jouw, or unstressed je (your, one person, informal)
- u: uw (your, polite)
- hij and het: zijn (his, its)
- zij (she): haar (her)
- wij: ons or onze (our; see Ons or onze?)
- jullie: jullie, or je (your, more than one person)
- zij (they): hun (their)
Examples
| Dit is mijn fiets. | This is my bike. |
| Wat is je telefoonnummer? | What is your phone number? |
| Is dat jouw tas of mijn tas? | Is that your bag or my bag? |
| Mag ik uw paspoort zien? | May I see your passport? |
| Daan zoekt zijn sleutels. | Daan is looking for his keys. |
| De hond wil zijn eten. | The dog wants its food. |
| Fatima belt haar moeder. | Fatima calls her mother. |
| Onze buren zijn heel aardig. | Our neighbours are very nice. |
| Hebben jullie je kaartjes? | Do you all have your tickets? |
| De kinderen fietsen met hun vader naar school. | The children cycle to school with their father. |
Why it works this way
Each possessive grows out of a subject pronoun you already know, so learn them in pairs: ik and mijn, jij and jouw, wij and ons. In Hij, het or zij for things you saw that most things are hij or het. Both share one possessive, zijn, so Dutch has no separate word for its: de hond en zijn bal, het huis en zijn tuin.
Choose by the owner. Spanish su can mean his, her or their, and German ihr can mean her or their. Dutch keeps them apart: Fatima belt haar moeder (her own mother), Daan belt zijn moeder, Daan en Sanne bellen hun moeder (the mother of both).
The pair jouw and je behaves like jij and je (see Jij or je?). The light form je is what you hear all day: Hoe gaat het met je moeder? Use jouw when you want to stress whose something is, usually in a contrast. For a group, jullie is the full form, and when jullie is already the subject, Dutch speakers often switch to je to avoid saying it twice.
The polite uw belongs to u. At the gemeente or the GP you will often hear uw naam and uw adres.
One formal detail: in official writing, haar can also mean its for feminine de-words such as de gemeente: de gemeente en haar inwoners. In everyday speech many people use zijn here too, so for now you only need to recognise this haar.
Remember: je is your default. Switch to jouw when you want to stress whose it is, as in jouw tas of mijn tas.
Watch out
FoutDit is ons fiets.
GoedDit is onze fiets.
fiets is a de-word, so onze
FoutIs dit jou jas?
GoedIs dit jouw jas?
jou is the object form, meaning you; your is jouw, with a w
FoutWat is u naam?
GoedWat is uw naam?
u means you; before a noun you need uw
Quick check
- Fill in the gap: De hond zoekt ... bal. (its)
- Fill in the gap with the polite form: Mevrouw, mag ik ... paspoort zien?
- Fix the sentence: Dat is onze huis.
- Fill in the gap: Joris en Mei fietsen met ... kinderen naar het park. (their)
Toon de antwoorden
- zijn (Dutch uses zijn for its)
- uw (the polite your that goes with u)
- Dat is ons huis. (huis is a het-word, so ons)
- hun (two owners)
Use it today
Next time you lock your bike, say Dit is mijn fiets to yourself. Then ask a colleague or neighbour one question with je, such as Hoe was je weekend?, and listen for mijn in the answer.