Dutch subject and object pronouns (ik/mij, wij/ons)

Personal pronouns are the small words that stand in for a person or thing: ik (I), jij (you), hem (him). Dutch sorts them into two sets — subject forms for the one doing the action (Ik bel je, I am calling you) and object forms for the one on the receiving end (Jij belt mij, you are calling me). Most pronouns also come in a full form and a shorter everyday form.

The subject is the person or thing that carries out the verb, and in a normal statement it sits right before the verb: Wij wonen in Utrecht. (We live in Utrecht.) Here is the full set.

For a het-word, it is het; for a de-word, Dutch uses hij: De trein? Hij is te laat. (The train? It is late.)

Use the object form when the pronoun is not the subject — when it is the thing the action is done to, or when it follows a preposition such as voor (for) or met (with): Hij kent mij. (He knows me.) Dit is voor jou. (This is for you.)

The object word for them is the one learners argue about: hen or hun when stressed, ze when not. That choice has its own page — see hen, hun or ze?.

Several pronouns have a long form and a short form that mean the same thing; the long one is used when you put weight on the word.

• The short (unstressed) form is the default and by far the more common: Ik zie je morgen. (I'll see you tomorrow.)
• The long (stressed) form marks a contrast or emphasis: Ik bedoel jou, niet hem. (I mean you, not him.)
• This applies to je/jij, ze/zij, we/wij (subject) and me/mij, je/jou (object). Forms like ik, hem, ons and jullie have only one shape.

• Subject form right before or after the verb: Zij werkt hier (She works here); Werk jij hier? (Do you work here?)
• Object form for the receiver of the action: Ik help mijn buurvrouw en zij helpt mij. (I help my neighbour and she helps me.)
• Object form after every preposition: met ons (with us), voor hem (for him), tegen jou (against/to you), naast haar (next to her).
• Choose u for people you address politely, whatever their number; jullie only for a group you are on informal terms with.

English keeps the same word after a preposition and as a subject (for me, me and my friend), so learners reach for a subject form where Dutch wants an object form. After a preposition it is always the object pronoun: voor mij, not voor ik; met ons, not met wij. The same goes for pairs: Dat is voor jou en mij. (That is for you and me.) Keep mij (object, meaning me) apart from mijn (possessive, meaning my) — they look alike but do different jobs: Geef het aan mij (Give it to me) vs Dat is mijn tas (That is my bag).