Breakdown of Mijn moeder kent jouw broer.
de broer
the brother
kennen
to know
mijn
my
de moeder
the mother
jouw
your
Questions & Answers about Mijn moeder kent jouw broer.
What is the difference between jouw broer and je broer?
Both mean "your brother". Jouw is the emphatic form, used when you want to put special stress on the word "your" (for example, "My mother knows YOUR brother, not his"). If you are just making a normal, unstressed statement, you can safely use je broer.
Why is the verb kent used here instead of weet for "knows"?
In Dutch, there are two verbs for "to know". Use kennen (here as kent) when you are talking about being familiar with people, places, or things. Use weten when you know a fact or information. Since the mother knows a person, kent is the right choice.
Does mijn change its spelling depending on the gender of the noun?
No, mijn stays exactly the same whether the noun is a "de" word (like de moeder) or a "het" word (like het kind). It also stays the same for plurals. The same rule applies to jouw, zijn, and haar.
The word order here matches English exactly. Is that typical?
Yes! For simple sentences like this, Dutch uses the exact same Subject-Verb-Object order as English. Mijn moeder is the subject, kent is the verb, and jouw broer is the object.
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