From Middle Dutch ji, northern form of gi, from Old Dutch gī, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, a northwest Germanic variant of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Cognate with Low German ji, jie, English ye, West Frisian jimme, German ihr.
Until the earlier 20th century, jij was considered exclusively colloquial and hardly appeared in writing. The standard equivalent was the doublet gij. However, the latter’s object and possessive forms u and uw interfered with the polite pronoun u that had developed in the northern Netherlands and this could be odd-sounding e.g. in private letters. Therefore the Hollandic colloquial system (with jij, jou and jullie) came to be fully standardized after WWII. Gij has since been restricted to religious and highly formal contexts in the Netherlands, but remains common in Belgium.
jij
subject | object | possessive | reflexive | genitive5 | |||||
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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 or regiolectal | 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 |
plural | |||||||||
1st person | wij | we | ons | – | ons, onze2 | – | onze | ons | onzer, onzes |
2nd person | jullie | je | jullie | je | jullie | je | – | je | – |
2nd person archaic or regiolectal6 | 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 an adjective. 3) In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). 4) In prescriptivist 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 singular gij, gelle (object form elle) and variants are commonly used colloquially in Belgium. Archaic forms are gijlieden and gijlui ("you people"). |
7) Zich is preferred if the reflexive pronoun immediately follows the subject pronoun u, e.g. Meldt u zich aan! 'Log in!', and if the subject pronoun u 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.' Only u can be used in an imperative if the subject pronoun is not overt, e.g. Meld u aan! 'Log in!', where u is the reflexive pronoun. Otherwise, both u and zich are equally possible, e.g. U meldt u/zich aan. 'You log in.' |
jij
jij
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
jij m (Tifinagh spelling ⵊⵉⵊ, plural ijijen, diminutive tjitš)
Declension of jij | ||
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Singular | Plural | |
free state | jij | ijijen |
construct state | ujij | yejijen |