Breakdown of Is deze werkplek van jou of de zijne?
zijn
to be
zijn
his
deze
this / these
jou
you (singular object)
Questions & Answers about Is deze werkplek van jou of de zijne?
Why do we use de zijne instead of het zijne here?
It refers back to werkplek (workspace). Because werkplek is a de-word (de werkplek), the independent possessive pronoun must also use de. If we were talking about a het-word, like het kantoor (the office), it would be het zijne.
Why does the sentence use van jou instead of de jouwe?
In Dutch, you can express 'yours' using either van jou or de jouwe. Both are correct and very common! The speaker here mixed the two structures, which is perfectly natural in everyday speech. You could also say 'Is deze werkplek de jouwe of de zijne?' or 'Is deze werkplek van jou of van hem?'
What does the -e at the end of zijne do?
To make an independent possessive pronoun (a word like 'mine' or 'his' that stands on its own without a noun), you usually take the regular possessive word and add an -e. So zijn (his) becomes zijne, mijn (my) becomes mijne, and jouw (your) becomes jouwe.
How can I tell that werkplek is a de-word just by looking at this sentence?