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

Hen and hun both mean them when you point to people, and choosing between them is one of the things Dutch speakers themselves argue about. There is a written rule that gives each word a job. In speech, the short form ze covers both and lets you skip the decision: Ik zie ze. (I see them.)

Use hen when the pronoun is the direct object or comes after a preposition, and hun when it is the indirect object with no preposition in front of it.

1. Direct object — the thing the verb acts on directly: Ik zie hen (I see them), We bedankten hen (We thanked them).
2. After any preposition — voor, aan, op, met and the rest: Dit is voor hen (This is for them), Ik wacht op hen (I am waiting for them).
3. Indirect object with no preposition — the person to or for whom something is done: Ik geef hun het boek (I give them the book), Ze vertelde hun de waarheid (She told them the truth).

A quick test for the indirect object: if you could put aan (to) in front of the pronoun, it is an indirect object → hun. But once you actually write aan, the preposition rule takes over and you switch to hen: Ze vertelde hun de waarheid becomes Ze vertelde de waarheid aan hen.

• When the pronoun carries no emphasis, unstressed ze fits every one of the roles above, so you never have to sort direct from indirect: Ik geef ze het boek / Ik zie ze / Ik wacht op ze.
• Ze sounds natural in ordinary speech and no listener hears an error in it.
• Reach for hen or hun mainly in writing, or when you stress the word: Ik bedoel hén, niet jullie. (I mean them, not you.)

The split between hen and hun was not born from natural speech — a 17th-century grammarian introduced it to make Dutch look more like Latin, and everyday Dutch never fully adopted it. That is why so many people, including native writers, mix the two up, and why the standard reference grammar now treats hen for the indirect object as acceptable rather than wrong. For a fast decision without the theory, see the quick page hen or hun?.

Do not use hun as the subject of a sentence. Hun hebben gelijk (meant as 'they are right') is widely regarded as incorrect; the subject word is zij or ze → Zij hebben gelijk. Keep hun for the object roles above (and for the possessive hun, as in hun huis, their house). If you are ever unsure between hen and hun in speech, fall back on ze and you will be safe.