Grammatica - loco

8
Pronouns
68
(b) The unemphatic form of jullie can be used when jullie has already
been employed as the subject of the sentence; jullie can then be, and
usually is, followed by an unemphatic possessive or reflexive form:
Jullie kunnen je onmogelijk vergissen. (where je is a reflexive)
You can’t possibly make a mistake.
Jullie moeten je snoepjes in je zak stoppen. (where je is a
possessive)
You should put your sweets in your pocket.
The unemphatic subject form je can only be used when a previous
clause or sentence has indicated that this je stands for jullie and not
for jij. In this case a singular verb is used even despite the fact that
je is standing in for jullie:
Jullie kunnen morgenavond komen en als je gegeten hebt, kun
je naar de bioscoop gaan.
You can come tomorrow night and when you’ve eaten, you can go to
the movies.
Note in the previous example how jullie kunnen alternates with je
hebt and kun je.
It is very common in spoken Dutch to begin a sentence with jullie
to indicate that one means you-plural, and then to continue the
conversation with je + a singular verb; more than one jullie in a
sentence sounds clumsy.
(c) U is officially both a singular and a plural pronoun. However, often
jullie (or even je) is used as an unemphatic or rather neutral form of
plural u. Because u demands a singular verb it can sound as if it
refers to one person and for this reason is often replaced by jullie
after the first mention of u, but not in contexts where one must
mind ones p’s and q’s with regard to the form of address, e.g.:
U kunt bij mijn oom in Emmen overnachten want jullie zullen
(or je zult) beslist erg welkom bij hem zijn.
You can spend the night at my uncle’s in Emmen because you will
definitely be very welcome at his place.
(d) Unemphatic hij is primarily pronounced ie when it follows the verb
and the -t ending can act as a glide. If it is ever written, which is
rare, it is usually hyphenated to the verb:
Heeft-ie dat gedaan?
Did he do that?