FromMiddle Persianzīg(literally“cord”).
zij (pluralzijes)
“zij”, inThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,2016,→ISBN.
FromMiddle Dutchsī, fromOld Dutchsiu,sia, fromProto-Germanic*iz and*hiz.
zij
| 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. | ||||||||
Contraction ofzijde(“side”).
zij f (pluralzijden,diminutivezijtje n)
Contraction ofzijde(“silk”).
zij f (uncountable,nodiminutive)
zij
zij
