gij
Contents |
Dutch [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle Dutch gī, from Old Dutch gī, from West Germanic *jīz, variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Compare Low German ji, jie, English ye, German ihr. See also jij, je.
Pronunciation [edit]
- IPA: /ɣɛi̯/, /xɛi̯/ (North of the Netherlands)
- IPA: /ʝɛi̯/, /xɛi̯/ (South of the Netherlands and Belgium)
- Rhymes: -ɛi̯
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Audio (file)
Pronoun [edit]
gij
- Second-person singular, subjective: thou (dialectal).
Usage notes [edit]
The personal pronoun gij and its variants are now mainly used in religious context, and are considered archaic in the Netherlands. In Flanders and the southern Netherlands, gij is still commonly used as the second-person singular in colloquial language but in formal language it is not used unless the referred second person is the "god" or the "king".
The best translation when used in archaic contexts would be thou; when used in Flanders, it would typically be you (singular). Unlike in English, gij usually doesn’t take a different verb form from jij, except when there is inversion or with some irregular verbs or in the past tense. Compare: heb jij dit gedaan? versus hebt gij dit gedaan? (have you / hast thou done this?). Also: jij zal versus gij zult (you shall/will / thou shalt/wilt), jij bent versus gij zijt (you are / thou art), jij vloog versus gij vloogt (you flew / thou flewest) etc.
Declension [edit]
| subject | object | possessive | reflexive | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | pred. | |
| 1st person | ik | 'k1 | mij | me | mijn | m'n1 | mijne | me |
| 2nd person | jij | je | jou | je | jouw | je | jouwe | je |
| 2nd person dialectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich |
| 3rd person masculine | hij | ie1 | hem | 'm1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich |
| 3rd person feminine | zij | ze | haar | 'r1, d'r1 | haar | 'r1, d'r1 | hare | zich |
| 3rd person neuter | het | 't1 | het | 't1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich |
| plural | ||||||||
| 1st person | wij | we | ons | – | ons, onze2 | – | onze | ons |
| 2nd person | jullie | je | jullie | je | jullie | je | – | je |
| 2nd person dialectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich |
| 3rd person | zij | ze | hen3, hun4 | ze | hun | – | hunne | zich |
| 1) Not as common in written language. 2) Inflected as an adjective. |
3) In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). 4) In prescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative). |
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