• Dutch
  • Frisian
  • Saterfrisian
  • Afrikaans
Show all
Second person pronouns
quickinfo

The second person pronouns in Afrikaans distinguish between singular and plural. The singular takes jy you.SG.SUB as subject, and jou you.SG.OJB as object (1).

1
a. Jy weet meneer kry steek in sy tande as dit koud is.
you.SG know mister get sting in his teeth when it cold be.PR
You know his teeth sting when it is cold.
VivA-KPO
b. Kom hier dat ek jou kan gelukwens.
come here that.COMP I you.SG can.AUX.MOD congratulate
Come here so that I can congratulate you.
VivA-KPO

The second person plural pronoun form is julle you.PL, whether used as subject or object (2).

2
a. Julle ken al die storie.
you.PL know already the story
You already know the story.
VivA-KPO
b. Ek sal julle nie vergeet nie.
I will.AUX you.PL not forget PTCL.NEG
I will never forget you.
VivA-KPO

Afrikaans also has a honorific second person pronoun u you.HON, which is unmarked for number or case (3).

3
Ons onderneming teenoor u is om aan u meer keuses te bied.
our undertaking against you.HON be.PRS for.COMP for you.HON more choices PTCL.INF offer.INF
We undertake to offer you more options.
VivA-KPO
readmore
[+]Second person singular pronouns

The second person singular pronoun in Afrikaans takes the subject form jy you.SG.SUB (4a and 4b). The subject form is occasionally used with a postmodifier, often the adverb daar there (4c), sometimes an adjective phrase (AP) (4d), or a noun phrase (NP) (4e).

4
a. Jy kan dit vir jou vat.
you.SG can.AUX.MOD it for you.SG take
You can take it for yourself.
VivA-KPO
b. Hoekom het jy nie geluister nie?
why have.AUX you.SG not listen.PST PTCL.NEG
Why did you not listen?
VivA-KPO
c. Jy daar, wie en wat is jy?
you.SG there who.REL and what be.PRS you.SG
You there, who and what are you?
VivA-KPO
d. Hey, jy daar agter by die motorbike...
hey you.SG there behind at the motorbike
Hey, you there in the back at the motorbike...
VivA-KPO
e. Jy die leser, is die hoofkarakter in die boek.
you.SG the reader be.PRS the head.character in the book
You the reader, is the main character in the book.
VivA-KPO

The object form of the second person singular pronoun is jou you.SG.OBJ (5a), also used in prepositional phrases (PPs) (5b).

5
a. Meeste van die gashandelaars sal jou kan help.
most of the gas.dealers will you.SG can help
Most of the gas dealers will be able to help you.
VivA-KPO
b. Daar mag nie teen jou gediskrimineer word nie.
there may.AUX.MOD not against you.SG discriminate.PASS become.AUX.PASS.PRS PTCL.NEG
There may not be discriminated against you.
VivA-KPO
[+]Second person plural pronouns

The form of the second person plural pronoun, julle you.PL, is the same whether it is used as a subject (6a), an object (6b), or in a PP (6c).

6
a. Julle was gesuip, punt.
you.PL be.PRT drunk period
You were drunk, period.
VivA-KPO
b. Ek wil julle vandag 'n ding vertel.
I want.to.AUX.MOD you.PL today a thing tell
I want to tell you something today.
VivA-KPO
c. Dit het niks met julle uit te waai nie.
it have.PRS nothing with you.PL out to wave PTCL.NEG
It has nothing to do with you.
VivA-KPO

The second person plural julle can be used with a postmodifier, including a noun (7a) or NP (7b), a numeral (7c), or an indefinite pronoun (7d and 7e).

7
a. Ag, toe nou, ek weet mos hoe is julle meisies.
oh then now I know surely how be.PRS you.PL girls
Oh, come now, I know how you girls are.
VivA-KPO
b. Dankie julle twee dames dat julle ons webblad deurgeblaai het.
thanks you.PL two ladies that.COMP you.PL our webpage through.page.PST have.AUX
Thanks you two ladies, that you paged through our webpage.
VivA-KPO
c. Dan is julle drie nou versorg.
then be.PRS you.PL three now cared.for
Then the three of you are taken care of.
VivA-KPO
d. En dit is reg dat julle elkeen 'n opinie lig.
and it be.PRS right that.COMP you.PL everyone a opinion raise
And it is good that each of you raises an opinion.
VivA-KPO
e. Nou kan julle almal saam malvalekkers braai en saam gesels tot slaaptyd.
now can.AUX.MOD you.PL everybody together marshmallows roast and together talk until sleep.time
Now all of you can roast marshmallows and talk until bedtime.
VivA-KPO

The second person plural pronoun also has a shortened form jul. Although it is currently used predominantly as an attributive possessive pronoun in written language (Kirsten 2016:166), it is still occasionally used as subject (8a) and object (8b), sometimes also with postmodification (8c).

8
a. Maar weet jul hoekom gaan dit so?
but know you.PL why go it so
But do you know why it goes like this?
VivA-KPO
b. Maar ek wil jul vandag vertel van innerlike skoonheid.
but I want.to.AUX.MOD you.PL today tell about inner beauty
But today I want to tell you about inner beauty.
VivA-KPO
c. ...en sien ons spesiale kersboodskap aan jul elkeen.
and see our special christmas.message to you.PL each.one
...and see our special Christmass message to each of you.
VivA-KPO
[+]Honorific second person pronouns and forms of address

Afrikaans has an honorific second person pronoun, u you.HON, which is unmarked for case or number. It can be used to refer to a specific person, the addressee (9a), or to a group of people (9b).

9
a. Dit beteken dat u minder vir dieselfde voordele-opsie betaal as iemand wat meer verdien.
it mean that.COMP you.HON less for the.same benefit-option pay as somebody that.REL more earn
It means that you pay less for the same benefit option as somebody that earns more.
VivA-KPO
b. Ons wil hê dat u mense van hoop moet wees.
we want.to.AUX.MOD have.INF that.COMP you.HON people of hope must be.INF
We want you to be people of hope.
VivA-KPO

Similar to the unmarked second person plural pronoun, the honorific u can also be postmodified, for instance with a numeral (10a) or an indefinite pronoun (10b and 10c).

10
a. Wie van u twee is die meeste my egte vader?
who.REL of you.HON two be.PRS the most my real father
Which of you two is my real father the most?
VivA-KPO
b. Lekker dag aan u almal!
nice day to you.HON everybody
Have a nice day, everyone!
VivA-KPO
c. Ten slotte wens ek u elkeen 'n wonderlike vakansie en 'n geseënde Kersfees toe.
at.the close wish I you.HON everyone a wonderful vacation and a blessed Christmas PREP.PTCL
Finally, I wish all of you a wonderful holiday and a merry Christmans.
VivA-KPO

The honorific u is, however, perceived to be very formal and slightly outdated, although it is still seen as polite (Bosman & Otto 2015:387). The respondents in Bosman and Otto's study report that they do not use u very often, which is corroborated by the data in Kirsten (2016:169). Young speakers may even prefer not to be addressed with the very formal u(Bosman & Otto 2015:384).

There is another approach to showing respect in forms of address in Afrikaans. One part of the approach is to not call older individuals by their first names. Unfamiliar people might be called mevrou ma'am (11a) or meneer mister (11b), or by their titles such as dokter doctor (11c), but familiar people are often called tannie auntie (11d) or antie auntie if they are women or oom uncle (11e) if they are men. The other part of the approach to respectful and polite forms of address is that instead of using the second person singular pronoun jou you.SG later in a sentence or utterance, the speaker would repeat the form of address, as in (11a, 11d and 11f). That would also include familial relations such as Ma Mom or Pappa Daddy. People would even use that to refer to themselves, as in (11g and 11h).

11
a. Maar Mevrou hoef nie bekommerd te wees nie, ons het Mevrou ingespuit.
but Ma'am need.AUX.MOD not worried PTCL.INF be.INF PTCL.NEG we have.AUX Ma'am inject.PST
But you don't have to worry, Ma'am, we injected you.
VivA-KPO, adapted
b. Lyk ek vir Meneer soos iemand wat 'n kind sal boelie?
look I for Mister like somebody that a child will bully
Do I look like someone who would bully a child, Sir?
VivA-KPO, adapted
c. Ja, Dokter, maar dan is my derms vreeslik lastig.
yes Doctor but then be.PRS my intestines very difficult
Yes, Doctor, but then my intestines are very difficult.
VivA-KPO
d. Lief vir Tannie baie en hoop om Tannie gou te sien.
love for Auntie much and hope for.COMP Auntie quick PTCL.INF see.INF
Love you lots, Auntie, and I hope to see you again soon.
VivA-KPO, adapted
e. Maar as Oom nie omgee nie, ek gaan 'n tweede opinie hieroor kry.
but if Uncle not mind PTCL.NEG I go a second opinion PN.about get
But if you don't mind, Uncle, I'm going to get a second opinion about this.
VivA-KPO
f. Liewe Pa – dankie dat Pa in 1924 vir my geboorte gewag het.
Dear Dad thanks that.COMP Dad in 1924 for my birth wait.PST have.AUX
Dear Dad – thanks that you waited for my birth in 1924.
VivA-KPO, adapted
g. Maar Antie wil regtig nie 'n riller-prentjie vir jou hier skets nie.
but Auntie want.to.AUX.MOD really not a horror-picture for you.SG here sketch PTCL.NEG
But I really don't want to sketch a horror picture for you here.
VivA-KPO
h. Moet Pappa jou boudjies kom afvee?
must.AUX.MOD Daddy your bum.DIM.PL come off.wipe
Should Daddy come wipe your bum?
VivA-KPO, adapted
References
  • Bosman, N. & Otto, A2015Moenie my 'jy' en 'jou' nie - die gebruik van u in die 21ste eeu.
  • Bosman, N. & Otto, A2015Moenie my 'jy' en 'jou' nie - die gebruik van u in die 21ste eeu.
  • Kirsten, J2016Grammatikale verandering in Afrikaans van 1911-2010.Thesis
  • Kirsten, J2016Grammatikale verandering in Afrikaans van 1911-2010.Thesis
printreport errorcite