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Questions & Answers about Ik ben Jan.
Is the word ik always capitalized like 'I' is in English?
No. In Dutch, ik is only capitalized when it starts a sentence, which is why it has a capital letter here. If it were in the middle of a sentence, you would write it with a lowercase i.
Which dictionary verb does ben come from?
It comes from zijn, which is the Dutch verb for 'to be'. Just like in English, this verb is highly irregular. When the subject is ik (I), the matching form is always ben.
If I wanted to introduce a friend instead, would I still use ben?
No, the verb changes to match the new subject pronoun. If you want to say 'He is Jan', you use the pronoun hij (he) and the verb form is, making the sentence Hij is Jan.
Should I use the article een (a/an) before the name?
No. Just like in English, you do not put een before a proper name in Dutch. You simply connect the subject and the name directly with the verb.