jij

Jij is the informal second-person singular subject pronoun in Dutch. It is used to address one person with whom the speaker has a close or informal relationship and contrasts with the formal u and the plural jullie. The unstressed variant je is common in casual speech and writing, while jij is used for emphasis or clarity, especially at the beginning of a sentence.

In standard Dutch, verbs agree with jij in the present tense by adding a final -t to the verb stem (for most verbs): Jij werkt hard. Jij gaat naar school. In questions or special constructions, word order changes but the subject remains jij or je: Heb jij een boek? Jij moet dit doen is an example of emphasis. The object form for you is jou, as in Ik zie jou. The possessive determiner for you is jouw, as in jouw boek, and the possessive pronoun is usually het jouwe or de jouwe, depending on gender and number.

Usage notes and variants: je is widely used as the casual form of you and can function as both subject and object in everyday speech, though jij remains the stressed, emphatic form. In Belgian Dutch and some Flemish dialects, g ij or gij may be used for the second-person singular in informal contexts, with different verb patterns, but this is not standard in the Netherlands. In formal writing and many polite contexts, u is preferred over jij. Overall, jij serves as the familiar, singular you in modern Dutch, with je providing a lighter, less emphatic alternative.