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Questions & Answers about Zijn vriend is heel groot.
Why does the sentence use zijn and not haar?
In Dutch, zijn can mean his (or sometimes its), while haar means her. Since the sentence refers to a friend who belongs to a male or a neutral subject, we use zijn.
What does groot mean in this context?
The word groot can mean big or tall. When describing a person, groot could imply that the friend is physically large in stature (tall) or has a large build. If you specifically want to say someone is tall, Dutch often uses lang, but groot is also acceptable to convey the idea of tallness or overall size.
Is there a difference in meaning between heel groot and erg groot?
Both heel and erg can add emphasis to the size. Heel groot translates roughly to very big, while erg groot might be closer to really big. They both express a high degree, so in everyday speech, they’re quite similar in meaning.
Does zijn ever change form to match the subject?
No. When used as a possessive pronoun (meaning his), zijn remains the same regardless of whether the noun is singular, plural, masculine, or feminine. It’s only the context that determines whether you use zijn (for his) or another possessive pronoun (like haar for her).