* ‘Ik’ is, just like the other personal pronouns, NEVER spelled with a capitol letter, unless it is the first word of the sentence.
** ‘U’ is a word used as formality. It is polite to say ‘u’ to other people, though only when talking to mature people. People my age only say it when there’s a big age difference. I wouldn’t say ‘u’ to people still under 30. But my mom for instance (she’s 51) would say ‘u’ to people between 20 and 30. So it’s hard to define when you should use ‘u’ and when not. At school, we have to say ‘u’ to every teacher, even the ones who’re only 25 or so. That’s to show that we are not on the same level as they are, just like you would say ‘u’ to your boss. But on the other hand, I work in a grocery store, and I have to say ‘u’ to every costumer, even the ones my age. To people above 50 at certainly above 65, you ALWAYS say ‘u’ unless you know the person very well and they’ve told you you can say ‘jij’ instead of ‘u’.
Example sentences (voorbeeldzinnen):
Ik ga naar een school in Amsterdam. I go (am going) to a school in Amsterdam.
Weet u / je dat helemaal zeker? Are you completely sure about that?
Wij hebben een CD gekocht. We have bought a CD.
Zij spelen VU. They play (are playing) VU.
Hij wil ook VU spelen. He wants to play VU as well.
B. Object
Engels (English)
Dutch (Nederlands)
First-person singular (eerste persoon enkelvoud)
Me
Mij / Me
First-person plural (eerste persoon enkelvoud)
Us
Ons
Second-person singular (tweede persoon enkelvoud)
You
You
Jou / Je
U
Second-person plural (tweede persoon meervoud)
You
You
Jullie
U
Third-person singular
Him
Her
It
Hem
Haar
Het
Third-person plural
(Derde persoon meervoud)
Them
Hen / Ze
These words aren’t spelled with a capitol letter either, unless they are used as the first word of a sentence.
Example sentences (voorbeeldzinnen):
Ik vertelde hem een verhaal. I told him a story.
Wie zal haar helpen? Who will help her?
Ze vertelden hem zich stil te houden. They told them to stay quiet.
