Word
Zij is een meisje.
Meaning
She is a girl.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Zij is een meisje.
I've seen both zij and ze for "she". Why use zij here?
Zij and ze both mean "she". Zij is the emphasized form, used when you want to put focus on the person. Ze is the unstressed, everyday form. Both are correct here, but zij puts a little more spotlight on "her".
Doesn't zij also mean "they"? How do we know it means "she" here?
You are right, zij can mean "she" or "they"! You can tell it means "she" in this sentence because the verb is is singular. If it meant "they", the verb would be plural: zij zijn (they are).
How do you pronounce een?
When it means "a" or "an", een is pronounced with a very soft, relaxed sound, like "uhn". Don't confuse it with the number one (één), which is pronounced more like "ayn".
Why does meisje end in -je?
In Dutch, adding -je to a word makes it a "diminutive", meaning something small or cute. While it literally means "little girl", meisje is the standard, everyday word used for a girl of any age.