Breakdown of Zij hebben veel met elkaar gemeen, zoals hun interesse in muziek.
zij
they
hebben
to have
veel
much / many / a lot of
in
in
met
with
de muziek
the music
hun
their
elkaar
each other
zoals
such as, like
gemeen
in common
de interesse
the interest (curiosity)
Questions & Answers about Zij hebben veel met elkaar gemeen, zoals hun interesse in muziek.
How does met elkaar fit into the sentence here?
The standard phrase for having something in common with someone is iets met iemand gemeen hebben. By replacing the person with the reciprocal pronoun elkaar, we get met elkaar (with each other). Unlike some pronouns that merge with prepositions to form words like ermee, elkaar stays separate from the preposition, so it is simply written as two words: met elkaar.
I learned that gemeen means mean or nasty. Why is it used here?
While gemeen does mean mean or nasty when describing someone's personality, it historically also translates to common or shared. Today, you will almost exclusively see this second meaning in the fixed expression iets gemeen hebben, which means to have something in common.
Why is gemeen placed after met elkaar?
In the expression iets gemeen hebben, the verb hebben is the conjugated working verb, so it takes the second position in this main clause. The word gemeen completes the meaning of the verb, so Dutch sentence structure rules push it to the very end of that clause, after the prepositional phrase met elkaar.
Could I use hen instead of hun for their interest?
No, you must use hun because it is the possessive pronoun meaning their. Hen is an object pronoun meaning them. Since the interest belongs to them, hun interesse is the only correct choice.
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