wij
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Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch wi, from Old Dutch wī, from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, from Proto-Indo-European *wéy-, plural of *éǵh₂.
Compare Low German wi, West Frisian wy, German wir, English we, Danish vi.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
wij
- the first-person plural personal pronoun; refers to the speakers
Inflection
| 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 or regiolectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | 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 | zich | 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, and in a similar vein to "you lot" or "you guys" in English, it is common to use gijlui ("you people") or gijlieden ("you people") or one of their contracted variants, and their corresponding objects, possessives and reflexives, in the plural. | ||||||||
Synonyms
Descendants
See also
Polish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Probably related to Ukrainian вій (vij), which refers to the same creature. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
wij m animal
- myriapod (arthropod belonging to the subphylum Myriapoda)
- (Slavic mythology) viy (creature with gigantic eyelids and eyelashes from hell who kills by looking at people)
Declension
Declension of wij
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
wij
Further reading
- wij in Polish dictionaries at PWN