Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer.

Tom seems younger than his brother.

Breakdown of Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer.

• Tom: Tom
• zijn: his
• lijken: to seem
• dan: than
• de broer: the brother
• jonger: younger

Questions & Answers about Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer.

What does lijkt mean in this sentence, and what is the infinitive form?

Lijkt is the 3rd‑person singular present form of the verb lijken.

• Lijken roughly corresponds to English to seem or to appear (and sometimes to look in the sense of to look young/old/tired).
• So Tom lijkt jonger = Tom seems/appears/looks younger.

Full present‑tense forms of lijken are:

• ik lijk
• jij/u lijkt
• hij/zij/het lijkt
• wij/jullie/zij lijken

How is lijkt different from ziet er jonger uit (from eruitzien)?

Both can be used for appearance, but there is a nuance:

• Lijken is more general: it is about the impression you get.
  
  • Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer = Tom seems/appears/looks younger than his brother.
• Eruitzien is specifically about visual appearance, literally to look outwards.
  
  • Tom ziet er jonger uit dan zijn broer = Tom looks younger than his brother (visually).

Often you can use either, but:

• lijkt can also be used for non‑visual things:
  
  • Dat lijkt moeilijk = That seems difficult (not about looks).
• ziet er … uit is only about how something/someone looks.

Why is it jonger and not meer jong?

Dutch normally forms comparatives of adjectives with -er, not with meer:

• jong → jonger (young → younger)
• groot → groter (big → bigger)
• oud → ouder (old → older)

Meer jong would sound very unnatural here. Meer is normally used:

• with adjectives that already end in -r or are long/foreign:
  
  • meer modern, meer populair
• with past participles used as adjectives:
  
  • meer geïnteresseerd

So for jong, the correct comparative is jonger.

Why doesn’t jonger have an -e at the end?

Dutch adjectives take -e in many cases, but not in all. The key distinction is:

• Attributive (in front of a noun) → usually -e
  
  • de jongere broer (the younger brother)
• Predicative (after verbs like zijn, worden, lijken, blijven) → no -e
  
  • Tom is jonger
  • Tom lijkt jonger

In Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer, jonger is predicative (it says something about the subject Tom through the verb lijkt), so it stays jonger without -e.

Why do we use dan and not als in this comparison?

Standard Dutch makes a clear distinction:

• dan after comparatives expressing inequality (more/less … than):
  
  • jonger dan (younger than)
  • groter dan (bigger than)
  • minder groot dan (less big than)
• als after expressions of equality (as … as):
  
  • even jong als (as young as)
  • net zo groot als (just as big as)

So:

• Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer = Tom seems younger than his brother.
• Tom lijkt even jong als zijn broer = Tom seems as young as his brother.

In informal spoken Dutch, some people do say jonger als, but that is considered non‑standard or incorrect in formal writing and careful speech.

Can I say Tom lijkt op zijn broer, and what would that mean compared to the original?

Yes, you can, but it means something different:

• Tom lijkt op zijn broer = Tom resembles his brother / Tom looks like his brother (overall similarity, often physical).
• Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer = Tom seems younger than his brother (a specific comparison of age, or at least how old they look).

Note:

• Without op, lijken usually introduces a complement with an adjective or clause:
  
  • Tom lijkt moe (Tom seems tired).
• With op (lijken op), it usually means to resemble:
  
  • Tom lijkt op zijn vader (Tom looks like his father).

What is the function of zijn here, and could it ever be haar or hun?

Zijn is a possessive pronoun meaning his (or its for neuter things). Zijn broer means his brother.

It does not automatically refer to Tom; it refers to some male person previously known in the context. In isolation, most people will assume it is Tom’s brother, but in a longer text it could be another man’s brother.

You could indeed have:

• haar broer = her brother
• hun broer = their brother

Examples:

• Tom lijkt jonger dan haar broer
  Tom seems younger than her brother.

• Tom lijkt jonger dan hun broer
  Tom seems younger than their brother.

So zijn simply shows whose brother we are talking about.

Is the word order fixed, or can I say Tom lijkt dan zijn broer jonger?

The word order Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer is the normal one, and you cannot just put dan zijn broer in the middle like Tom lijkt dan zijn broer jonger. That is incorrect.

The parts jonger dan zijn broer belong together as one comparative phrase.

You can, however, front that whole comparative phrase for emphasis:

• Jonger dan zijn broer lijkt Tom.

This sounds more formal or poetic, but it is grammatically correct. The comparative phrase stays together; you don’t split jonger from dan zijn broer.

Can I replace lijkt with is? What is the difference between Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer and Tom is jonger dan zijn broer?

Yes, you can replace it, but you change the meaning:

• Tom is jonger dan zijn broer
  States a fact: Tom really is younger in age than his brother.

• Tom lijkt jonger dan zijn broer
  Talks about appearance or impression: Tom only seems younger (maybe because of his looks, clothes, energy, etc.); we are not necessarily talking about his actual age.

So is expresses a factual comparison, while lijkt expresses how things appear.

How would I say this sentence in the past or future tense?

The verb lijken is irregular in the past:

• Past simple (preterite): leek (singular), leken (plural)
• Past participle: geleken

Some useful forms:

• Past:

  • Tom leek jonger dan zijn broer.
    Tom seemed/appeared younger than his brother.

• Present perfect:

  • Tom heeft jonger geleken dan zijn broer.
    Tom has seemed younger than his brother. (less common; context‑dependent)

• Future:

  • Tom zal jonger lijken dan zijn broer.
    Tom will seem younger than his brother.

How do you pronounce lijkt?

Pronunciation (Standard Dutch):

• lijkt: /lɛikt/

Details:

• l like English l in look (but usually clearer).
• ij pronounced /ɛi/, somewhat like the vowel in English day, but more like eh‑ee blended.
• k like English k in cat.
• t like English t in top.

So it sounds roughly like English laked, but with a different vowel quality.

Also note: the ij spelling is treated as one letter in Dutch and rhymes with ei (they sound the same in most accents).

Could I drop Tom and use a pronoun? For example, Hij lijkt jonger dan zijn broer?

Yes:

• Hij lijkt jonger dan zijn broer.
  He seems younger than his brother.

Two points to watch:

1. Hij (he) is the subject and refers to some male person known from the context.
2. Zijn broer then means his brother, but his could refer either to hij or to some other male person already mentioned. That can create ambiguity:

• It could mean:
  
  • He seems younger than his own brother, or
  • He seems younger than another man’s brother (someone else’s).

Usually, the context makes it clear, but grammatically zijn does not have to refer to hij.