hen, hun, or ze? The Dutch object pronoun for 'them'

Ik zie ze. (I see them.) Here ze is an unstressed object form for people. The full object forms are hen and hun. Possessive hun comes before a noun, as in hun huis (their house). The subject form for they is zij or ze in Standard Dutch. This page separates these uses and explains the traditional object rule.

The traditional full-form rule uses hen for a direct object or after a preposition and hun for an indirect object without a preposition. Unstressed ze can replace either form in these object roles.

In Ik zie hen (I see them), hen is the direct object: it names the people seen.

In Ik geef hun het boek (I give them the book), hun is the indirect object: it names the people who receive the book.

A preposition is a linking word such as aan (to), voor (for), met (with), or op (on). The traditional full form after any preposition is hen.

The same recipient can appear with or without aan. Without a preposition, write Ik geef hun het boek. (I give them the book.) With aan, write Ik geef het boek aan hen. (I give the book to them.)

Ik geef ze het boek. (I give them the book.) The reduced form ze is the short, unstressed form of both hen and hun. When it refers to people, ze is standard as a direct object, an indirect object, or an object after a preposition. You can therefore also say Ik zie ze. (I see them.) and Ik wacht op ze. (I am waiting for them.)

Ik bedoel hén, niet jullie. (I mean them, not you.) This sentence contrasts them with you, so the pronoun is stressed and needs a full form. Ze cannot carry this stress. Formal writing also uses full hen or hun more often, even when the pronoun is unstressed.

Full hen and hun refer only to people. Unstressed ze can also refer to things as a direct object: Ik lees de rapporten. Ik lees ze. (I read the reports. I read them.) After a preposition, things normally use er + preposition: Ik wacht op de rapporten becomes Ik wacht erop. (I am waiting for them.) A preposition followed by ze also occurs informally for things, but the er form is usual.

Dat is hun huis. (That is their house.) Here hun comes before the noun huis (house) and shows possession. Keep this possessive hun before the noun; hen and ze do not show possession.

Seventeenth-century grammarians created the distinction between object hen and hun. It is an artificial writing rule rather than a stable distinction from spontaneous speech. Speakers have mixed the forms for centuries. Careful writing often mixes them too.

Use the table when you want the strict traditional norm. Many speakers and editors also use hen where that rule expects indirect-object hun. The Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst (General Dutch Grammar) accepts this use of hen, while many publishers still keep the school rule. For a fast decision without the history, see hen or hun?.

Ze wonen in Amsterdam. (They live in Amsterdam.) Standard Dutch uses stressed zij or unstressed ze as the subject. You may hear subject hun in the Netherlands, as in Hun wonen in Amsterdam, but current authorities classify it as nonstandard. Possessive hun and object hun remain standard in the roles above.