Hun + Singular or Plural? The English Trap in Dutch — B1 Dutch Grammar Course, Lesson 20 | My Dutch Journal

Hun + Singular or Plural? The English Trap in Dutch | B1 Dutch, Lesson 20

July 4, 2026

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Welcome to B1 Lesson twenty. In this lesson, you learn about a very specific but important difference between Dutch and English. When multiple people each have one of the same thing, Dutch uses a singular noun. English uses a plural. "De studenten staan bij hun fiets. In English, you would say The students are standing by their bicycles — but in Dutch, you say hun fiets — singular. Why? Because each student has one bicycle. The noun follows how many each person has, not how many people there are. By the end of this lesson, you will know when to use a singular noun and when to use a plural noun after the possessive pronoun hun."

The key rule — how many does each person have?

Here is the rule in one question: "Hoeveel heeft ieder persoon? — How many does each person have? The Dutch noun follows that number. If each person has one, the noun is singular. De studenten staan bij hun fiets. Each student has one bicycle. So the noun fiets is singular — even though there are many students, and in total there are many bicycles. In English you say their bicycles. In Dutch you say hun fiets. De reizigers tonen hun paspoort. Each traveller has one passport — singular. De mensen wachten bij de bagageband op hun koffer. Each person has one suitcase to collect — singular. If each person has more than one, the noun is plural. De studenten brachten hun studieboeken terug naar de bibliotheek." Each student borrowed multiple books from the library — plural. In that case, Dutch and English work the same way. The key question is always: how many does each person have?

Each person has ONE — singular noun

Let us practise the rule with three examples from a travel setting. "De mensen wachten bij de douane met hun ... — paspoort or paspoorten? Each person carries one passport. So: hun paspoort — singular. De mensen wachten bij de bagageband op hun ... — koffer or koffers? Each person expects one suitcase. Hun koffer — singular. De passagiers houden hun ... — ticket or tickets? Each passenger has one ticket. Hun ticket — singular. In all three cases, the English translation would use a plural: their passports, their suitcases, their tickets." But Dutch uses the singular because each person has one. This is the difference you need to train yourself to notice.

When plural IS correct — each person has more than one

When does Dutch use a plural noun after "hun? When each person genuinely has more than one. Look at these two sentences about the same students. De studenten namen hun boek naar de les mee. They brought their textbook to class — one per student — singular. De studenten brachten hun studieboeken terug naar de bibliotheek. They returned their study books to the library — multiple per student — plural. Same students, same hun, different noun form. De studenten bekeken hun aantekeningen. Notes — by definition more than one — plural. De patiënten nemen hun medicijnen in. Medicines — typically more than one pill or type — plural. The pronoun hun" does not change. The noun changes depending on how many each person has. When Dutch and English agree is when each person has multiple — in that case, both languages use plural. The difficulty is remembering to use singular in Dutch when English would use plural.

Multiple owners — one shared thing

There is one more situation to consider. What if multiple people share a single thing? "Mijn ouders staan bij hun huis. Two owners, one house — so the noun is singular. Hun huis — not hun huizen. Mijn broer en zus delen één auto. Ze rijden met hun auto naar het werk." They share one car. Again, the group has one car — so singular. The rule still works: how many does the group have? One. So: singular. Whether it is one item per person or one item shared by the group, the logic is the same. Count what the group actually has, not how many people are in the group.

The English trap

This slide captures the main challenge. When you translate from English into Dutch, it is tempting to copy the plural noun because English uses it. Their bicycles — but Dutch says "hun fiets. Their passports — Dutch says hun paspoort. Their suitcases — hun koffer. Their rooms — hun kamer. Each person has one of each of these things. The noun in Dutch is singular. The danger is automatic translation. When you hear their bicycles, your instinct says plural — but Dutch says singular. The last example is different: their books — because in that context each student has multiple books — Dutch does use plural: hun boeken. One more note: when a group shares one thing, English and Dutch both use singular — their house, hun huis." There is no English trap in that case — both languages agree. The rule is always the same. Do not ask how many people there are. Ask how many each person has. One per person or one shared: singular. More per person: plural.

Key Takeaways

Three things to remember from this lesson. First: always ask "Hoeveel heeft ieder persoon? — how many does each person have? That question gives you the answer. Second: if each person has one, the noun is singular — even though you are talking about a group. Hun fiets, hun paspoort, hun koffer, hun kamer. In English these would all be plural. In Dutch they are singular because each person has one. Third: if each person has more than one, Dutch uses plural — just like English. Hun boeken, hun aantekeningen. When sharing one thing as a group, the same logic applies: one thing — singular. Mijn ouders — hun huis." The skill to practise is slowing down when you hear or write a possessive with a plural subject, and asking that one question: how many does each person actually have?

Practice What You Learned

Reading about grammar is step one — using it is what makes it stick. In My Dutch Journal Academy you can watch the full video of this lesson, do interactive exercises that check your answers instantly, and practise all the vocabulary from the B1 course.