Questions & Answers about Ik zal je het document mailen.
Dutch can talk about the future in two main ways:
Present tense for (near) future
- Ik mail je het document morgen.
= I’ll email you the document tomorrow. - Very common, especially when the time is clear from context.
- Ik mail je het document morgen.
Future tense with “zullen”
- Ik zal je het document mailen.
= I will email you the document. - Used for:
- Promises / offers: Ik zal je helpen. (I’ll help you.)
- Decisions made at the moment of speaking
- Slightly more formal or deliberate-sounding future
- Ik zal je het document mailen.
So both are possible. “Ik zal je het document mailen” sounds a bit more like a promise or clear commitment than simple present.
Dutch has a preference in double-object constructions:
- Unstressed pronoun (je, me, hem, haar, ons, ze)
→ tends to come before a full noun phrase.
So:
- Ik zal je het document mailen. ✅
- Ik zal het document je mailen. ◻️ (possible but unusual; would need special stress on je and still sounds awkward)
Think of it this way:
- Pronoun object first
- Full noun object second
Other examples:
- Ik geef je het boek. (I’ll give you the book.)
- Ik stuur hem de uitnodiging. (I’ll send him the invitation.)
So “je het document” follows a normal, natural Dutch pattern.
Yes, but the meaning changes slightly in terms of emphasis.
- je = unstressed object pronoun (neutral)
- jou = stressed object pronoun (emphasized)
Compare:
Ik zal je het document mailen.
= I’ll email you the document. (neutral)Ik zal jou het document mailen.
= I’ll email you the document. (implied contrast, e.g. “not someone else”)
You would use jou when you want to stress you specifically:
- Ik zal jou het document mailen, niet hem.
I’ll email you the document, not him.
- jij = subject form (like English you when it’s the subject)
- je can be:
- unstressed subject (informal, light)
- unstressed object (here!)
- a possessive (your), depending on context
In this sentence:
- je is the indirect object (“to you”), not the subject.
- The subject is Ik (I).
So:
- Ik zal je het document mailen. ✅ (I = subject, je = object)
- Ik zal jij het document mailen. ❌ (wrong form; jij cannot be used as object)
If you swap the roles:
- Jij zal mij het document mailen. ✅ (You will email me the document.)
In Dutch, countable singular nouns almost always need a determiner (article, possessive, etc.).
So you normally must say:
- het document (the document)
- een document (a document)
- mijn document (my document)
Leaving the article out:
- Ik zal je document mailen. ❌ (wrong unless document is a name/brand or something special)
- Ik zal je het document mailen. ✅
Only a few special categories can appear without an article (e.g. many professions, some abstract nouns, mass nouns), but “document” as a concrete countable thing needs one.
Dutch has two grammatical genders for nouns in modern use:
- de-words (common gender)
- het-words (neuter)
- document happens to be a het-word, so:
- het document
- dit document (this document)
- dat document (that document)
Unfortunately, the gender is often not predictable from the shape of the word, especially for borrowed words like document. You generally have to learn the gender with the noun:
- de brief (the letter)
- het document (the document)
- de e-mail (the email)
- het bericht (the message)
“mailen” (or “e-mailen”) is absolutely real and very common in Dutch.
Typical verbs:
- iemand mailen = to email someone
- iets mailen = to email something
- iets (aan iemand) mailen = to email something (to someone)
Example:
- Ik zal je het document mailen.
- Ik mail het bestand morgen.
- Kun je mij het rapport mailen?
Register:
- Neutral, everyday language
- Fine in most work contexts too
- In more formal writing, you might see:
- per e-mail versturen
- per e-mail toezenden
- elektronisch verzenden
But in speech and normal writing, mailen is very standard.
Yes, that’s possible:
Ik zal je het document mailen.
Literally: I will you the document email.
Structure: [indirect object pronoun] + [direct object] + [verb]Ik zal het document naar je mailen.
Literally: I will the document to you email.
Structure: [direct object] + [preposition phrase “naar je”] + [verb]
Differences:
- je het document mailen
- More compact
- Very common pattern when the indirect object is a pronoun
- het document naar je mailen
- Slightly more explicit / “prepositional”
- May be used if you want to emphasize the direction (naar je, to you)
Both are correct and natural. The first is more idiomatic in this kind of sentence.
The verb zullen (to will / shall) is conjugated like this in the present tense:
- ik zal (I will)
- jij / je zult or jij / je zal (you will)
- hij / zij / het zal (he / she / it will)
- wij / jullie / zij zullen (we / you all / they will)
Since the subject is Ik (I), you must use:
- Ik zal…
Examples:
- Ik zal het doen. (I’ll do it.)
- Jij zult het doen. / Jij zal het doen. (You’ll do it.)
In Dutch subordinate clauses, the finite verb and the infinitive(s) go to the end of the clause.
Main clause:
- Ik zal je het document mailen.
Subordinate clause:
- …dat ik je het document zal mailen.
(…that I will email you the document.)
Word order pattern:
- [… dat] ik je het document zal mailen.
- ik = subject
- je het document = objects
- zal mailen = verb cluster at the end
You might also hear:
- …dat ik je het document mailen zal.
This is more old-fashioned or very formal; the version with zal mailen at the end is more usual in modern spoken Dutch.
Yes, but the meaning is slightly different:
Ik zal je mailen.
= I’ll email you. (I’ll send you an email; content unspecified)Ik zal je het document mailen.
= I’ll email you the document. (specific thing being sent)
So both are correct; the second one simply tells the listener what will be attached / sent in the email.