Grammatica - loco

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Unemphatic pronouns
The distinction between emphatic and unemphatic pronouns, which also
exists in English in the spoken language (but not in the written: compare
‘you/ya’), is very important in Dutch. One important difference from English
is that many, but not all the unemphatic forms, are written. If no particular
stress is required, it is of no consequence whether one writes the emphatic
or unemphatic form of the subject pronoun:
or
8.1.1
Heb je je vrouw gesproken? Heb jij je vrouw gesproken?
Did you speak to your wife? (no particular emphasis)
Heb jij je vrouw gesproken of heeft Marie je vrouw
gesproken?
Did you speak to your wife or did Marie speak to your wife? (emphasis
on you and Marie)
but not
Heb jij/je jouw vrouw gesproken? (unless a stress on jouw is
implied)
(a) The unemphatic form of the possessive zijn (see 8.2) is written only in
such expressions as met z’n tweeën, op z’n best/hoogst/minst where it
must be used (see 10.1.2.3). In addition, the colloquial forms mijn
broer z’n auto ‘my brother’s car’ and mijn zuster d’r man ‘my sister’s
husband’, if ever written, require the unemphatic forms of these
possessives (see 8.2.2).
3 Whether haar is pronounced unemphatically as ’r or d’r depends on its phonetic
environment, e.g. Ik heb ’r in de stad gezien ‘I saw her in town, Ik hou d’r in de gaten
(i.e. after a vowel) ‘I’m keeping an eye on her’. But the unemphatic form of haar as a
possessive adjective (see 8.2) is always d’r. Common in speech but rare in writing is the
form ze for unemphatic haar meaning ‘her’. Usually the context will indicate whether
ze means ‘her’ or ‘them’.
4 Het can also translate English ‘they’ (see 8.1.2.3 (c)).
5 In colloquial Dutch hun also occurs as a subject pronoun meaning ‘they’ but it can
only refer to people. This practice, which is becoming very common these days, is better
avoided as many still regard it as substandard, and it is certainly never written, e.g.
Hun liggen nog in bed ‘They are still lying in bed’.
Personal
pronouns
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