Breakdown of Dit is mijn bureau, en dat is het jouwe.
zijn
to be
en
and
mijn
my
jouw
your
dit
this (neuter)
dat
that (het-words)
het bureau
desk
Questions & Answers about Dit is mijn bureau, en dat is het jouwe.
Why does this sentence use het jouwe instead of de jouwe?
Independent possessive pronouns (like 'mine' or 'yours') must match the gender of the noun they are replacing. Because 'desk' is a neuter word (het bureau), 'yours' becomes het jouwe. If we were talking about a de word like de stoel (the chair), you would use de jouwe.
Why is there an extra -e added to jouw to make jouwe?
When a possessive pronoun stands completely on its own rather than right in front of a noun, it gets an -e added to the end. So the normal possessive jouw (your) becomes the independent word jouwe (yours).
Why do we use dit and dat for 'this' and 'that' here, rather than deze and die?
The words for 'this' and 'that' also have to match the gender of the noun they point to. Because bureau is a het word, we use dit (this) and dat (that). If it were a de word, you would need to use deze and die.
Does the word mijn change because it is placed in front of a het word?
No, mijn (my) stays exactly the same whether it comes before a de word or a het word. It would only change to mijne (mine) if it stood alone as an independent pronoun at the end of the sentence, like in het mijne.
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