Breakdown of Waar is mijn jas? Die ligt op de stoel.
zijn
to be
de stoel
the chair
waar
where
de jas
the coat
mijn
my
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
liggen
to lie
Questions & Answers about Waar is mijn jas? Die ligt op de stoel.
Why does the second sentence use die instead of a normal pronoun like hij or het for "it"?
In spoken and casual Dutch, demonstrative pronouns like die (that) and dat (that) are extremely common as stand-ins for "it." While you could technically use hij because jas is a de-word, using die sounds much more natural to a native speaker. It translates somewhat like saying "That one is lying on the chair."
How do I know whether to use die or dat to say "it" in this context?
It completely depends on the definite article of the noun you are referring back to. For de-words, like de jas (the coat), you use die. If you were asking about a het-word, such as a shirt (het hemd), you would use dat instead. For example: Waar is mijn hemd? Dat ligt op de stoel.
Why say the coat ligt (lies) instead of just using is?
English usually just uses "to be" to say where an object is located, but Dutch strongly prefers "positional verbs." Dutch speakers use liggen (to lie), staan (to stand), zitten (to sit), or hangen (to hang) depending on the object's shape and placement. Because a tossed coat rests flat and horizontally on the seat, it ligt. If it were draped over the backrest, you would say it hangt (hangs) instead.
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