Definify.com
Definition 2024
Uw
uw
uw
Dutch
Determiner
uw (dependent possessive,independent possessive uwe)
- Second-person singular and plural; your
Usage notes
In standard Dutch this is the polite form of jouw. However, in Flanders it is commonly used as both formal and informal. The word jouw is not commonly used in Flanders.
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. |
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