Breakdown of Ik ben een jongen en u bent een man.
ik
I
zijn
to be
een
a/an
de man
the man
de jongen
the boy
u
you (formal)
en
and
Questions & Answers about Ik ben een jongen en u bent een man.
Why use u here instead of jij or je?
U is the formal word for "you" in Dutch. Because the speaker is a boy (een jongen) talking to an adult man (een man), he uses u to show respect.
Why is the verb bent used with u?
The formal pronoun u usually takes the exact same verb form as jij (the informal "you") in the present tense. For the irregular verb zijn (to be), that form is bent.
Why does the verb change from ben to bent in this sentence?
Does u need to be capitalized?
No, unlike the English word "I", Dutch pronouns like ik and u are only capitalized if they are the very first word of a sentence.
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