Dutch Object Pronouns: mij, jou, hem, haar, ons, hen | A1 Dutch, Lesson 18

Welcome to lesson eighteen of the A1 Dutch Grammar Course. In the previous lesson you learned demonstrative pronouns — dit, dat, deze, and die. In this lesson you are going to learn object pronouns — the forms that personal pronouns take when they are the object of a verb or follow a preposition. In English these are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them. In Dutch, they are mij, jou, hem, haar, het, ons, jullie, and hen. You already know the subject forms from lesson two. Object pronouns follow a similar pattern, but with some important differences. By the end of this lesson, you will know the main object pronouns, which short forms exist, and why this course practises the clear full forms after prepositions.

Onderwerp → Object

Here are all the object pronouns alongside their subject forms. Ik becomes mij or me — I becomes me. Jij and je become jou or je — you becomes you. U stays u. Hij becomes hem — he becomes him. Zij and ze become haar — she becomes her. Het stays het — it stays it. Wij and we become ons — we becomes us. Jullie stays jullie — you plural stays the same. And zij and ze for they becomes hen or ze — they becomes them. You will notice that some pronouns have two forms: mij and me, jou and je, hen and ze. The longer forms — mij, jou, hen — are used for emphasis and are the safest clear forms after prepositions. The shorter unstressed forms — me, je, ze — are very common in everyday speech.

Als lijdend voorwerp

The most common use of object pronouns is as the direct object of a verb — the person or thing that receives the action. Ik zie hem elke dag — I see him every day. Ze helpt haar met haar huiswerk — she helps her with her homework. Ik bel Jan — I call Jan — becomes ik bel hem. Ze helpt de kinderen — she helps the children — becomes ze helpt hen. Ik lees het boek becomes ik lees het. The object pronoun replaces the noun and takes its place in the sentence. In everyday speech, you will often hear the short forms me and je: hoor je me — do you hear me? Ik zie je morgen — I will see you tomorrow. Both the long and short forms are correct for direct objects. The difference becomes important when a preposition is involved.

Na een voorzetsel

When a pronoun follows a preposition — words like naar, bij, voor, naast, achter, met, van — the clear full forms are always safe: bij mij, naar jou, naast hem, voor haar, voor ons, achter jullie, met hen. This is the form we practise in this A1 lesson, because it is clear and easy to recognize. In everyday unstressed Dutch, you may also hear short forms such as bij me, naar je, or met ze. Those are common, but for this course you should first learn the full forms after prepositions.

Me, je, ze — kort of vol?

The golden rule for this A1 lesson is practical: learn the full forms after a preposition first. Ik zie je morgen and hoor je me are normal direct-object sentences. After a preposition, practise the clear full forms: kom je bij mij, ik ga naar jou, hij gaat met hen. In everyday Dutch, short unstressed forms such as bij me, naar je, and met ze are also common, so do not treat them as impossible. The other pronouns — u, hem, haar, ons, jullie — have only one object form, so no choice needs to be made for them.

Key Takeaways

Here is what you learned in this lesson. Dutch object pronouns are the forms personal pronouns take when they are the object of a verb or follow a preposition. Ik becomes mij or me, jij becomes jou or je, u stays u, hij becomes hem, zij becomes haar, het stays het, wij becomes ons, jullie stays jullie, and zij for they becomes hen or ze. The key rule for this course: short forms me, je, and ze are very common in everyday speech, especially as direct objects. After a preposition, first practise the clear full forms mij, jou, and hen. In lesson nineteen you will learn place prepositions — the Dutch words for in, on, next to, behind, and in front of.

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