FromMiddle Dutchsijn, fromOld Dutchsīn. The infinitivezijn along with the wordsis andzij (present indicative and subjunctive) derive ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*h₁es-(“to be”), which had no separate infinitive in Germanic. The modern infinitive was probably back-formed in late Old Dutch from the first-person plural subjunctivesīn(“we be”), since this form had become identical to the infinitive in other verbs during the late Old Dutch period. Compare alsoGermansein,Low Germansien.
The original infinitive survives inwezen, fromMiddle Dutchwesen, fromOld Dutchwesan, fromProto-West Germanic*wesan, fromProto-Germanic*wesaną, from*h₂wes-(“to reside”). All the forms with initialw- (imperative and past tense) derive from this root.
Finally, the formsben andbent derive fromProto-Germanic*beuną(“to be, to become”), from*bʰuH-(“to become”), which survives only as relic forms in the West Germanic languages and not at all in the others. Its infinitive and non-singular forms are attested in (Old) English, Frisian and a number of Dutch dialects.
zijn
| Conjugation ofzijn (irregular, suppletive) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | zijn | |||
| past singular | was | |||
| past participle | geweest | |||
| infinitive | zijn | |||
| gerund | zijnn | |||
| present tense | past tense | |||
| 1st person singular | ben | was | ||
| 2nd person sing. (jij) | bent,ben2 | was | ||
| 2nd person sing. (u) | bent,is | was | ||
| 2nd person sing. (gij) | zijt | waart | ||
| 3rd person singular | is | was | ||
| plural | zijn | waren | ||
| subjunctive sing.1 | zij | ware | ||
| subjunctive plur.1 | zijn | waren | ||
| imperative sing. | wees,ben | |||
| imperative plur.1 | weest,zijt | |||
| participles | zijnd | geweest | ||
| 1)Archaic.2) In case ofinversion. | ||||
FromMiddle Dutchsijn, fromOld Dutchsīn (originally a reflexive form), fromProto-West Germanic*sīn, fromProto-Germanic*sīnaz, fromProto-Indo-European*seyno-.
Cognate withGermansein,Swedishsin. Ultimately a form of the Proto-Indo-European reflexive pronoun*swe. CompareRussianсебя(sebja),Latinsuus,Ancient Greekἑός(heós), etc.
| Audio: | (file) |
zijn (dependent possessive, independent possessivezijne,contracted formz'n)
| subject | object | possessive | reflexive | genitive5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | pred. | ||
| 1st person | ik | 'k1 | mij | me | mijn | m'n1 | mijne | me | mijner,mijns |
| 2nd person | jij | je | jou | je | jouw | je | jouwe | je | jouwer,jouws |
| 2nd person archaic orregiolectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer,uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u,zich7 | uwer,uws |
| 3rd person masculine | hij | ie1 | hem | 'm1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner,zijns |
| 3rd person feminine | zij | ze | haar | h'r1,'r1,d'r1 | haar | h'r1,'r1,d'r1 | hare | zich | harer,haars |
| 3rd person neuter | het | 't1 | het | 't1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner,zijns |
| 3rd person gender-neutral8 | hen | – | hen | – | hun | – | hunne | zich | hunner,huns |
| plural | |||||||||
| 1st person | wij | we | ons | – | ons,onze2 | – | onze | ons | onzer,onzes |
| 2nd person | jullie | je | jullie | je | jullie | je | – | je | – |
| 2nd person archaic orregiolectal6 | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer,uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u,zich7 | uwer,uws |
| 3rd person | zij | ze | hen3,hun4 | ze | hun | – | hunne | zich | hunner,huns |
| 1) Not as common in written language. 2) Inflected as anadjective. 3) Inprescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). 4) Inprescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative). 5) Archaic. Nowadays used for formal, literary or poetic purposes, and in fixed expressions. 6) To differentiate from the singulargij,gelle (object formelle) and variants are commonly used colloquially in Belgium. Archaic forms aregijlieden andgijlui ("you people"). | 7)Zich is preferred if the reflexive pronoun immediately follows the subject pronounu, e.g.Meldt u zich aan! 'Log in!', and if the subject pronounu is used with a verb form that is identical with the third person singular but different from the informal second person singular, e.g.U heeft zich aangemeld. 'You have logged in.' Onlyu can be used in an imperative if the subject pronoun is not overt, e.g.Meld u aan! 'Log in!', whereu is the reflexive pronoun. Otherwise, bothu andzich are equally possible, e.g.U meldt u/zich aan. 'You log in.' 8) Not officially recognized in standard Dutch. It has gained popularity, especially in mainstream media and queer circles, as a respectful term fornon-binary individuals. | ||||||||
zijn