Breakdown of Zijn broer en haar zus zijn hier.
hier
here
en
and
de broer
the brother
de zus
the sister
zijn
his
haar
her
Questions & Answers about Zijn broer en haar zus zijn hier.
Why is the word zijn used twice in this sentence? Do they mean the same thing?
No, they mean completely different things! The first Zijn is a possessive word meaning his (his brother). The second zijn is the verb meaning are (are here). You will see this double meaning a lot in Dutch, so use the context of the sentence to tell them apart.
Do zijn and haar change depending on whether the sibling is male or female?
No, just like in English, zijn (his) and haar (her) match the owner, not the person being owned. We use zijn because the brother belongs to a man, and haar because the sister belongs to a woman.
Why do we use the plural verb zijn (are) instead of the singular verb is?
Because the subject of the sentence is plural. Even though the brother and the sister are single people on their own, the word en (and) connects them into a plural group. Therefore, we use the plural verb zijn (are) instead of the singular is.
Is there a difference between haar (her) and the Dutch word for hair?
No, they are exactly the same! Haar means both her and hair. You can easily tell which one it is by the context. In this sentence, it is followed by zus (sister), so it must mean her.
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