How to Say “You” in Dutch

Ways to say it

These words serve as subject pronouns to address the person or people you are speaking to. Related to these pronouns is the determiner de used to refer to the specific individual or group being addressed, and the verb vousvoyeren which refers to the act of addressing someone using the formal pronoun.

Which one should you use?

The distinction between the informal forms depends on emphasis: use jij when you want to stress the person (for example, 'You and not someone else, are doing this'), whereas je is the unstressed version used most commonly in everyday spoken Dutch. The form u is reserved for formal address, while gij is a traditional pronoun used for both singular and plural 'you'.

Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?

Dutch has clear distinctions in register. u is the formal form used to show respect when addressing elders, strangers or people in professional settings. The forms jij and je are informal. Using u in casual settings can make a speaker sound overly stiff or distant.

Is it said differently in some regions?

gij is a traditional second-person pronoun used primarily in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium.

Related words

The individual or group spoken/written to (det): de.

To address using the more formal second-person pronoun (verb): vousvoyeren.

How do you pronounce it?

/jɛi/

What mistakes should you avoid?

Avoid using u in casual or familiar settings. Doing so can make you sound unnaturally stiff or distant when je would be more natural.