h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi tbdiii,

you're explanation of 'jij / jou' is not completely correct., as the difference between the two have nothing to do with being masculine/femenine. 'Jij' is the normal form of you., e.g. 'you're going home' .which means: jij gaat naar huis. One can't use 'jou' here. 'Jou' is the translation of you when it is used , e.g. in: I give the book to you, which translates as: ik geef het boek aan jou. (There's probably a name for such a use of the word you, but I don't know it).
This difference may be difficult for english speakers, because they don't have this difference in their language. But the dutch language provides a way out. When one uses the word 'je' for you, one is almost always right. In the above examples one can both use 'je' (I actually don't know if the use of 'je' in the second example is grammatically correct, but a lot of people use it, and it sounds less wrong than the use of jij).

Hope you can use this piece of advice,

Cheers,
Janus

You are totally correct. That was added somewhere in the subbing stage. The correct explanation should obviously be subject/the rest (i.e. obvect). (onderwerp/de rest). I will try to change that

I am having no problem with this as I speak Afrikaans which is derived from Dutch. I hope to use this guide item to learn more of the differences.
(There are some most embarassing ones as some normal Dutch words are very crude in Afrikaans!)

and especially the other way round.

words like 'verneuk' are not something you should mention to anyone in The Netherlands...

OK! The Dutch word for 'breeder' as in horse-breeder in Afrikaans means 'having sex with' the horse! The English word 'Puss'as in cat (also used in Dutch)used in Afrikaans is spelled differently and refers crudely to a womans genitalia.

Not to mention Dutch words that can sound very rude when said to an English-speaking person, such as 'vak' (subject, job, compartment), 'fokker' (breeder), or 'ho' (wait, stop, cease).

It is also very funny to ask for 'shag' (it means rolling tobacco) in a tobacconist

what do you mean with 'crude'?
i am Belgian-Flemish, not Dutch in a strict sense,
I'm just curious.
p

so you roll your cigarettes,
me too, but I'm out of paper at the moment.
sorry, I'll get some Rizla+ soon.
This beats prefab cigarettes by a mile, folks.
If you try this at home, don't blame me :=}
p