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Questions & Answers about Hij wast zijn haar.
What is the grammatical breakdown of the sentence?
- Hij = he (subject pronoun)
- wast = washes (3rd person singular present of wassen)
- zijn = his (possessive adjective)
- haar = hair (a mass noun; grammatical gender: neuter, with article het when used with an article: het haar)
Why is it wast and not was?
Because Dutch adds -t to the verb stem for 3rd person singular in the present tense.
- Present of wassen:
- ik was
- jij/je wast (but after inversion: Was jij…?)
- hij/zij/het wast
- wij/jullie/zij wassen Note: hij was means “he was” (past of zijn, to be), so you need the -t here: Hij wast…
Is zijn here the verb “to be”?
No. In this sentence zijn is a possessive adjective meaning his. The verb “to be” is zijn as an infinitive, but as a finite verb it’s is in the 3rd person: Hij is…
Do I need a reflexive pronoun when talking about washing a body part?
Not necessarily. Hij wast zijn haar is the most common modern phrasing. There is also a more formal/literary option with a reflexive pronoun plus a definite article: Hij wast zich het haar. Both are correct. Note that Hij wast zich alone means “He washes himself” (no body part specified).
Could this sentence mean “He washes her hair”?
No. That would be Hij wast haar haar. Here the first haar is the possessive adjective “her,” and the second haar is the noun “hair.” The possessive in Dutch agrees with the possessor, not with the noun’s gender:
- zijn haar = his hair
- haar haar = her hair
Why is there no article before haar?
Because a possessive adjective (zijn) replaces the article in Dutch. You say zijn haar, not het haar, when you mean “his hair.” If you speak about hair generically or someone/something else’s hair with a noun phrase, you use an article: het haar van de hond (the dog’s hair).
Is haar singular or plural? What about haren?
- haar is usually a mass noun for hair collectively (default for head hair).
- haren (plural) refers to individual hairs and is used in set phrases or more formal/poetic style, or for body hair/animals: de haren op zijn armen. You may see zijn haren in older or stylistically elevated language, but zijn haar is most common for everyday “his hair.”
How do you pronounce the sentence?
Approximate IPA (Netherlands Dutch): [ɦɛi ʋɑst zɛin haːr]
- Hij: ij = “eye”
- wast: short a as in “father” but shorter; Dutch w ≈ [ʋ], between English v and w
- zijn: ij = “eye”; z as in English “z”
- haar: aa = long “ah,” final r lightly pronounced
How do I say “He is washing his hair (right now)”?
Dutch often uses the simple present for both habitual and current actions: Hij wast zijn haar can mean either. To make the ongoing aspect explicit:
- Hij is zijn haar aan het wassen.
- Also possible: Hij is bezig zijn haar te wassen.
How do I turn it into a question or use it in a subordinate clause?
- Yes/no question (invert subject and verb): Wast hij zijn haar?
- With jij/je, the -t drops after inversion: Was jij je haar?
- Wh-questions: Wanneer wast hij zijn haar? / Waarom wast hij zijn haar?
- Subordinate clause (verb goes to the end): …dat hij zijn haar wast.
How do I negate it?
- Basic negation: Hij wast zijn haar niet.
- With an adverb: Hij wast vandaag zijn haar niet. (Place niet after the object when negating the whole clause.)
What are the past and perfect forms?
- Simple past (OVT): Hij waste zijn haar.
- Present perfect (VTT): Hij heeft zijn haar gewassen. Note: wassen has past waste/wasten and past participle gewassen.
Can I replace zijn haar with a pronoun?
Yes. Since haar (hair) is neuter (het haar), you can say Hij wast het (“He washes it”). Be aware that het is context-dependent and can be ambiguous out of context.
Is there a common colloquial variant?
Yes. Spoken Dutch often uses z’n for zijn: Hij wast z’n haar. Pronounced roughly [zən].
Is Hij was zijn haar ever correct?
Not for the present tense meaning “He washes his hair.” Hij was is read as “He was” (past of zijn, to be). You need:
- Present: Hij wast zijn haar.
- Simple past: Hij waste zijn haar.
- Perfect: Hij heeft zijn haar gewassen.