Dutch Possessive Pronouns

In Lesson 1 you learned personal pronouns (ik, jij, hij, zij...). Now we move to possessive pronouns: words that show who something belongs to. You can use them before a noun (mijn tas = my bag) or in a phrase with van (de tas is van mij = the bag is mine).

Dutch Possessive Pronouns and Their Meanings

Subject	Object (after preposition)	Possessive (before noun)	Example
ik	mij / me	mijn	Dit is mijn fiets / De fiets is van mij Dit is mijn fiets / De fiets is van mij. - This is my bike / The bike is mine.
jij	jou / je	jouw	Dit is jouw jas / De jas is van jou Dit is jouw jas / De jas is van jou. - This is your jacket / The jacket is yours.
hij	hem	zijn	Dit is zijn sleutel / De sleutel is van hem Dit is zijn sleutel / De sleutel is van hem. - This is his key / The key is his.
zij	haar	haar	Dit is haar telefoon / De telefoon is van haar Dit is haar telefoon / De telefoon is van haar. - This is her phone / The phone is hers.
u	u	uw	Dit is uw agenda / De agenda is van u Dit is uw agenda / De agenda is van u. - This is your agenda / The agenda is yours (formal).
wij	ons	ons / onze	Dit is ons huis / Dit is onze auto Dit is ons huis / Dit is onze auto. - This is our house / This is our car.
jullie	jullie	jullie	Dit is jullie kamer / De kamer is van jullie Dit is jullie kamer / De kamer is van jullie. - This is your room / The room is yours (plural).
zij (pl.)	hen	hun	Dit is hun laptop / De laptop is van hen Dit is hun laptop / De laptop is van hen. - This is their laptop / The laptop is theirs.

When to Use Ons or Onze

How to Actually Get ons/onze and the Others Right

English possessives never change shape — "our" stays "our" whether it comes before "house," "car," or "kids." Most Dutch possessives work the same way: mijn, jouw, zijn, haar, and hun are fixed forms, just like their English equivalents. The one exception is "our," which splits into two Dutch words, and which one you need depends entirely on the noun that follows — in exactly the same way de and het depend on the noun.

So treat ons/onze as a built-in de/het test. Look at the noun right after it: before a singular het-word, use ons (ons huis, ons boek). Before a singular de-word, or before any plural at all, use onze — plurals are always de-words, so "onze" is automatic there too (onze auto, onze kinderen). When in doubt, guess "onze": most Dutch nouns are de-words, so the odds favor you.

Mistakes English Speakers Make

English has one unchanging word for "our," so it's tempting to lock onto a single Dutch form too — and because English uses "you" unchanged for both subject and object, the spelling difference between jouw and jou is easy to miss. These are the four slips that come up most at A0–A1 — check yourself against each one.