Grammatica - loco

8
Pronouns
70
8.1.2
8.1.2.1
Remarks on subject and object pronouns
Second person forms of address: jij, u, gij, jullie
Anyone who has attempted to learn another European language will be
acquainted with the existence of two forms of second person address. In
the ABN of The Netherlands the two forms are jij and u. Broadly speaking
one can compare the usage of the two with similar couplets in other
languages, i.e. French tu/vous, German du/Sie, but in some cases usage
sometimes differs quite dramatically from those languages, as some of the
following examples illustrate.
The verb tutoyeren, borrowed from French, means to be on jij terms with
someone; the opposite is vousvoyeren. The expression jijen en jouen means
the same thing but is pejorative:
Ken je de directeur goed? Ja wel, we tutoyeren elkaar al
lang.
Do you know the manager well? For sure, we’ve been on first name
terms for ages.
Ze hebben iedereen zitten jijen en jouen en daar hield ik
niet van.
They were addressing everybody with jij and I didn’t approve of it.
(a) Use of u:
In addition to the usual usage of the polite form of address for
strangers, elders, etc., u is also employed in the following cases where
it would not be used in German, for instance.
1 A small minority of people still say u to their parents. This was
very common prior to the war and can still be found in some
upper-middle-class families but is very much on the wane. You will
meet it in literature.
2 It is commonly used for grandparents and aunts and uncles (it
depends on the family and possibly the age of the aunts and uncles
vis-à-vis your age), and is always used for God.
U/uw are still sometimes written with capital letters in very formal
letters, but this tradition is fast waning and is certainly no longer the
norm.
(b) Use of jij
Generally speaking jij is used for friends, relatives (with the above
exceptions), children and animals. Teachers use jij for schoolchildren