gij

Contents

Dutch

Alternative forms

• ge

Etymology

From Middle Dutch gī, ghi, from Old Dutch gī, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, Northwest Germanic variant of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Doublet of jij.

Compare also Low German ji, jie, English ye, German ihr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣɛi̯/
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯

• Audio

  (file)

Pronoun

gij

1. (dialectal, colloquial) you

   Motte gij nog een pilske?

   Do you want another beer?.

2. (archaic, literary, religious) thou

   Gij zult niet doden.

   Thou shalt not kill.

Usage notes

• In most of the Netherlands, the personal pronoun gij and its variants are now mainly used in religious context and are considered archaic. In Flanders and the southern Netherlands, gij is still commonly used as the second-person singular in colloquial language; in formal language it is not used unless the referred second person is the "god" or the "king".

• The best translation when used in archaic contexts would be thou; when used in Flanders or the southern Netherlands, it would typically be you (singular). Unlike in English, gij usually takes the same verb form as jij except when there is inversion or with some irregular verbs or in the past tense. Compare heb jij dit gedaan? versus hebt gij dit gedaan? (have you / hast thou done this?). Also: jij zal versus gij zult (you shall/will / thou shalt/wilt), jij bent versus gij zijt (you are / thou art), jij vloog versus gij vloogt (you flew / thou flewest) etc.

Inflection

Dutch personal pronouns

	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
2nd person	jij	je	jou	je	jouw	je	jouwe	je	jouwer
2nd person archaic or regiolectal	gij	ge	u	–	uw	–	uwe	u	uwer
2nd person formal	u	–	u	–	uw	–	uwe	zich	uwer
3rd person masculine	hij	ie1	hem	'm1	zijn	z'n1	zijne	zich	zijner
3rd person feminine	zij	ze	haar	h'r1, 'r1, d'r1	haar	h'r1, 'r1, d'r1	hare	zich	harer
3rd person neuter	het	't1	het	't1	zijn	z'n1	zijne	zich	zijner
plural
1st person	wij	we	ons	–	ons, onze2	–	onze	ons	onzer
2nd person	jullie	je	jullie	je	jullie	je	–	je	–
2nd person archaic or regiolectal6	gij	ge	u	–	uw	–	uwe	u	uwer
2nd person formal	u	–	u	–	uw	–	uwe	zich	uwer
3rd person	zij	ze	hen3, hun4	ze	hun	–	hunne	zich	hunner
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.

Related terms

• jullie