Pointing Back, Not Pointing At
You know die and dat as pointing words: die auto (that car), dat huis (that house). Dutch also uses them alone, at the start of a sentence, to refer back to someone or something you just mentioned — where English says he, she, it or they.
| Do you know my neighbor? He works in the city. | Ken je mijn buurman? Die werkt in de stad. |
| Do you know my sister? She lives here. | Ken je mijn zus? Die woont hier. |
This is extremely common in spoken Dutch. It sounds more natural than starting the answer with hij or zij.
Die for de-Words, People and Plurals
Die refers back to de-words, to people, and to anything plural:
| Do you see that car? It is very expensive. | Zie je die auto? Die is heel duur. |
| Where is my coat? It is lying on the chair. | Waar is mijn jas? Die ligt op de stoel. |
| Where are the keys? They are lying on the table. | Waar zijn de sleutels? Die liggen op de tafel. |
| Did you eat the cake? It is very tasty. | Heb je de taart gegeten? Die is heel lekker. |
Dat for het-Words
Dat refers back to a singular het-word:
| Do you see that house? It is very beautiful. | Zie je dat huis? Dat is heel mooi. |
| Have you read the book? It is very good. | Heb je het boek gelezen? Dat is heel goed. |
| Do you see that restaurant? It is new. | Zie je dat restaurant? Dat is nieuw. |
The Pattern
| refers back to | word | example |
|---|---|---|
| de-word | die | de jas → Die ligt op de stoel. |
| person | die | mijn zus → Die woont hier. |
| plural | die | de sleutels → Die liggen op de tafel. |
| het-word | dat | het boek → Dat is heel goed. |
The reference word takes the first position of its sentence, so the verb comes straight after it — the normal Dutch second-position rule.
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
