Breakdown of Ze zien hun collega's niet.
niet
not
zien
to see
de collega
the colleague
hun
their
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
Questions & Answers about Ze zien hun collega's niet.
Why do we use hun here to mean "their"?
In Dutch, hun means "their" (belonging to them). Unlike ons and onze (our), which change depending on the word they are attached to, hun always stays exactly the same. You use hun whether the following noun is a de-word, a het-word, or plural like collega's.
Why is there an apostrophe in collega's?
In Dutch, nouns that end in a single open vowel (like a, i, o, u, or y) get an apostrophe plus s ('s) to make them plural. This keeps the final vowel sounding "long". Without the apostrophe, the word would be spelled "collegas" and the final "a" would suddenly sound short.
Could I use zij instead of ze at the beginning of the sentence?
Yes! Zij and ze both mean "they" in this context. Zij is used when you want to put strong emphasis on "they" (for example: They don't see their colleagues, but we do). Ze is the standard, unstressed version that you will hear most often in everyday speech.
Why does niet go at the very end of the sentence?
When you want to negate the main action of the sentence (the verb zien), niet usually goes after the specific direct object. Here, the specific object is hun collega's. So, instead of putting "not" right after the verb like in English, the Dutch word order becomes "they see their colleagues not".
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