Learn Dutch: De jongen is hier.

In Dutch, every noun is either a de-word (common gender) or a het-word (neuter gender). Jongen is a de-word. A helpful rule for beginners: nouns that refer to people (like a boy, woman, or baker) almost always take de.

Does jongen ending in -en mean it is a plural word?

No, jongen is singular and means one boy. While adding -en is the most common way to make words plural in Dutch, sometimes those letters are just part of the basic singular word. The plural for boy is actually jongens (boys).

What pronoun from this lesson would replace de jongen here?

You would use hij (he). If you swap it out, the sentence becomes Hij is hier (He is here). Because de jongen is a single person, it uses the exact same verb form (is) as hij.

How should I pronounce the word jongen?

The ng sounds like the middle of the English word singer, without a hard G sound. Also, in everyday spoken Dutch, the final -n is usually dropped and kept completely silent! You will usually hear people pronounce it as jong-uh.