Questions & Answers about Ik heb mijn identiteitskaart altijd bij me.
Why do we use me here instead of the reflexive mezelf?
When using a preposition of place (like bij, achter, or naast) to show a physical location relative to the subject, Dutch drops the -zelf ending. You just use the short object pronoun (me, je, zich, etc.). Because you are carrying the card physically on your person, it is bij me, never bij mezelf.
Could I use the stressed pronoun mij instead and say bij mij?
You could, but it changes the nuance. Ik heb het bij me is the standard, neutral way to say "I have it on my person." If you use the stressed form bij mij, you are either drawing a contrast (e.g., "I have it with me, not with him") or you might be implying "at my house/place."
Why does altijd come before bij me in the sentence?
In Dutch sentence structure, adverbs of time (like altijd) almost always appear before prepositional phrases that indicate a location (like bij me). This follows the standard Time-Manner-Place rule, so the time element must come first.
Why is there an s in the middle of identiteitskaart?