Breakdown of Geef het mij, alsjeblieft.
het
it
geven
to give
mij
me
alsjeblieft
please (informal); here you go
Questions & Answers about Geef het mij, alsjeblieft.
Why is the word order het mij instead of mij het?
When a sentence has two object pronouns, the direct object (het, meaning it) comes before the indirect object (mij, meaning to me). If the direct object were a regular noun, the order would flip, for example: Geef mij het boek (Give me the book).
Could I say Geef het me instead of Geef het mij?
Yes, Geef het me is very common in everyday speech. Using the stressed pronoun mij instead of the unstressed me adds a bit of emphasis, as if you are saying give it to me specifically, rather than to someone else.
Why doesn't the verb Geef have a subject like jij next to it?
This is an imperative sentence, which means it is a command. Just like in English, you drop the subject when telling someone to do something. You simply use the stem of the verb geven.
Can I use alstublieft at the end of this sentence instead?
You could, but it would mix informal and formal language. The command Geef without a subject is informal, which perfectly matches the informal alsjeblieft. A fully formal version would add the formal pronoun u and use the formal please: Geef u het mij, alstublieft.
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