Questions & Answers about Is dit boek van jou?
Why is it dit boek and not deze boek?
In Dutch, the word for "this" depends on the article of the noun. Because boek is a het-word (het boek), you must use dit. If it were a de-word, like de pen, you would use deze (deze pen).
Why do we say van jou instead of a single word for "yours"?
To say something is "mine" or "yours" at the end of a sentence, Dutch speakers almost always use van (of) plus the person. So, "is it yours?" translates literally to "is it of you?" (is het van jou?).
Why is it spelled jou here and not jouw?
Jouw (with a w) is the possessive word for "your", which must go directly before a noun (like jouw boek). Jou (without a w) is the object pronoun meaning "you". Because it comes directly after the preposition van (of), you must use the object form jou.