Breakdown of Hij heeft zijn telefoon.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
hebben
to have
zijn
his
de telefoon
the phone
Questions & Answers about Hij heeft zijn telefoon.
Doesn't zijn also mean "to be"?
Yes, it does! Zijn is both the infinitive verb for "to be" and the possessive word for "his". You can tell it means "his" in this sentence because it is placed right before a noun (telefoon).
Does the word zijn change depending on the word that comes after it?
No, it stays exactly the same. Whether the noun is a de-word like de telefoon or a het-word like het boek, the word for "his" is always just zijn.
Why is the verb heeft here instead of something like "hebt"?
The verb hebben (to have) is irregular in Dutch. While "you have" is jij hebt, the "he/she/it" form drops the "b" completely and becomes heeft.
Will Dutch speakers sometimes pronounce zijn differently in everyday speech?
Yes! In normal spoken Dutch, the possessive zijn is very often shortened and pronounced as z'n (sounding a bit like "zun"). In writing, however, you will usually see it spelled out as zijn.