Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Dutch Strong and Weak Subject Pronouns

Dutch has strong and weak subject pronouns. They can also be called stressed and unstressed. However, not all the subject pronouns have strong and weak forms. Only a few do.

The following subject pronouns have strong and weak forms:

jij je (you)
zij ze (she)
wij we (we)
zij ze (they)

The strong forms are always stressed, and the weak forms are not. When the personal pronouns are used in isolation, only the strong forms are used. In the question Wie is de beste zanger? (Who is the best singer?), the answer is Jij (You) when only the pronoun is used in the response. The strong forms can also be used for emphasis. 

Many Dutch subject pronouns have a strong form and a weak form. In conversation the weak forms are very common. Unlike the strong forms, they are always unstressed.


No comments:

Featured Post

Finding the Proto-Form

Related languages have a number of words which are similar to one another. In the branch of linguistics known as historical linguistics, the...