At the Lineup
First, let's set the scene at a police lineup (de confrontatie).
| the lineup | de confrontatie |
| She could point out the man behind the window pane without him seeing her. | Zij kon de man achter de ruit aanwijzen, zonder dat hij haar zag. |
The Resumptive Pronoun het
When answering a question like "Are you the victim?", English speakers typically reply, "Yes, I am." Dutch doesn't leave the sentence empty; instead, it uses the pronoun het (it) to represent the previously mentioned noun phrase. You literally say, "Yes, I am it."
| Are you the victim of the robbery? Yes, I am. | Ben jij het slachtoffer van de overval? Ja, ik ben het. |
| Is this man the robber? Yes, he is. | Is deze man de overvaller? Ja, hij is het. |
This applies to negative statements as well. Use het to refer back to the noun even when denying it.
| Everyone thought he was the robber, but he wasn't at all. | Iedereen dacht dat hij de overvaller was, maar hij was het helemaal niet. |
Replacing Adjectives
This same rule applies to adjectives. When confirming or denying a description, use het instead of repeating the adjective. You will often see this structure with linking verbs like zijn (to be) and lijken (to seem).
| People thought that the accomplice was violent, and he was too. | Men dacht dat de handlanger gewelddadig was, en hij was het ook. |
| Although the suspect seemed violent, he was not. | Hoewel de verdachte gewelddadig leek, was hij het niet. |
| The thief in the cell was aggressive, and the accomplice was too. | De dief in de cel was agressief, en de handlanger was het ook. |
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