Learn Hardcore Dutch: Zij is zowel moe als hongerig.

zij – stressed form, a bit more emphatic:
- Zij is zowel moe als hongerig. = She (as opposed to someone else) is both tired and hungry.
ze – unstressed, more common in everyday speech:
- Ze is zowel moe als hongerig.

In normal spoken Dutch, Ze is zowel moe als hongerig is very natural. In writing, both are fine; zij may feel slightly more formal or emphatic.

Why is it is and not another form of zijn, like bent or ben?

Zijn is the verb to be, and it conjugates like this in the present tense:

ik ben – I am
jij / je bent – you are (singular, informal)
hij / zij / ze / het is – he / she / it is
wij / we zijn – we are
jullie zijn – you are (plural)
zij / ze zijn – they are

Since zij here means she, you must use the third person singular form: is.

So: Zij is zowel moe als hongerig. = She is both tired and hungry.

What does the structure zowel … als … mean exactly, and is it required here?

Zowel … als … is a correlative conjunction meaning both … and ….

Zij is zowel moe als hongerig.
= She is both tired and hungry.

You don’t have to use it. You could also say:

Zij is moe en hongerig. – She is tired and hungry.

The difference is nuance:

zowel … als … slightly emphasizes that both qualities apply.
… en … is more neutral, just listing two things.

Both are correct and natural.

Can I say Zij is zowel moe en hongerig, or is that wrong?

That is wrong. With this structure, Dutch needs the pair zowel … als …, not zowel … en ….

Correct:

Zij is zowel moe als hongerig.

Incorrect:

✗ Zij is zowel moe en hongerig.

Think of it as a fixed pair:

zowel ↔ als
like English:
both ↔ and

Why are the adjectives moe and hongerig not ending in -e (like moeë, hongerige)?

In Dutch, adjective endings depend on how the adjective is used.

Predicative use (after a verb like zijn, worden):
No -e ending.
- Zij is moe. – She is tired.
- Zij is hongerig. – She is hungry.
- Zij is zowel moe als hongerig.
Attributive use (directly before a noun):
Usually you add -e.
- de moeë vrouw – the tired woman
- de hongerige vrouw – the hungry woman

In your sentence, moe and hongerig describe the subject via the verb (is), so they are predicative, and you use the base forms moe and hongerig.

Is hongerig the usual way to say “hungry” in Dutch, or is there a more common expression?

Hongerig is correct, but in everyday Dutch, people more often say:

Zij heeft honger. – She is hungry. (literally: She has hunger.)

So you have two options:

Zij is hongerig. – stylistically a bit more formal or “bookish”.
Zij heeft honger. – the most common spoken form.

Your sentence:

Zij is zowel moe als hongerig.

sounds perfectly correct, just a bit more like written or careful speech. In casual speech, someone might instead say:

Zij is moe en ze heeft honger.

Could I switch the order and say Zij is zowel hongerig als moe?

Yes, that is perfectly correct:

Zij is zowel moe als hongerig.
Zij is zowel hongerig als moe.

Both mean the same thing: She is both tired and hungry.
Changing the order just changes the order of emphasis slightly (the first item can feel a bit more prominent), but grammatically it’s fine.

Can Dutch drop the subject pronoun like in some other languages? Could I say just Is zowel moe als hongerig?

No. Dutch generally requires an explicit subject pronoun.

Zij is zowel moe als hongerig. – correct
✗ Is zowel moe als hongerig. – incorrect; sounds incomplete

Unlike languages such as Spanish or Italian, Dutch is not a “pro‑drop” language; you almost always need to state the subject (ik, jij, hij, zij, wij, jullie, zij).

Is zowel … als … formal, or is it also used in everyday speech?

Zowel … als … is used in both spoken and written Dutch.

In spoken Dutch, people may use it, but they also very often just use en:
- Ze is moe en hongerig.
In written Dutch (articles, essays, formal texts), zowel … als … is very common because it sounds a bit more structured and emphatic:
- Zij is zowel moe als hongerig.

So it’s not restricted to formal language, but it does feel slightly more “careful” or “neat” than a simple en.

How would I make this sentence negative in Dutch, and what exactly would it mean?

A direct negative would be:

Zij is niet zowel moe als hongerig.

Literally: She is not both tired and hungry.

This usually implies that at least one of the two is not true. For example:

She might be tired but not hungry, or
Hungry but not tired, or
Neither tired nor hungry.

If you just want to say she is neither tired nor hungry, it’s clearer to say:

Zij is niet moe en niet hongerig. – She is not tired and not hungry.
or more naturally:
Zij is niet moe en ze heeft geen honger. – She is not tired and she is not hungry.