Afrikaans Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Afrikaans grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Afrikaans and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Afrikaans and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Afrikaans.

Prepositions - Afrikaans
and en
above bo
under onder
before voordat
after na
in front of voor
behind agter
far from ver van
near naby
in In
inside binne
outside buite
with met
without sonder
about oor
between tussen
but maar
for vir
from van
to tot

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Afrikaans
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] Ek eet sonder 'n mes
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] Sy woon naby die kerk
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] Hy is langer as sy
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] Hy het saam met sy klein hondjie gekom
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] Kan jy saam met my kom?

Negation in Afrikaans

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Afrikaans
I understand you [affirmative form] Ek verstaan jou
I don't understand you [negation + verb] Ek verstaan ​​jou nie
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] Dit is nie die korrekte woord nie
don't leave me [imperative negation] Moenie my alleen los nie
no problem [negation + noun] geen probleem

Negative Sentences - Afrikaans
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] Ek praat nie Frans nie
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] Sy het nie Duitsland besoek nie
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] Hy kan ons nie sien nie
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] Kan sy nie skaak speel nie?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] Ons sal nie laat kom nie

Questions in Afrikaans

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Afrikaans
how? hoe?
what? wat?
who? wie?
why? hoekom?
where? waar?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Afrikaans
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] Waar woon jy?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] Praat sy Chinees?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] Hoeveel kos dit?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] Kan ek jou help?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] Wat is jou naam?

Adverbs in Afrikaans

It's time to learn the adverbs in Afrikaans. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Afrikaans
now nou
yesterday gister
today vandag
tonight vanaand
tomorrow môre
soon binnekort
quickly vinnig
slowly stadig
together saam
very baie
almost byna
always altyd
usually gewoonlik
sometimes soms
rarely selde
never nooit

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Afrikaans
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] Verstaan ​​jy my nou?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] Ek het dadelik hulp nodig
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] Sy is baie intelligent
I will always love you [verb + adverb] Ek sal altyd lief wees vir jou
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] Kan ons saam Duits leer?

Pronouns in Afrikaans

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Afrikaans. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Afrikaans
I Ek
you jy
he hy
she sy
we ons
they hulle

Object Pronouns - Afrikaans
me my
you jy
him hom
her haar
us ons
them hulle

Possessive Pronouns - Afrikaans
my my
your jou
his sy
her haar
our ons
their hul

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Afrikaans
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] Ek is jou vriend
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] Jy praat baie vinnig
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] Hy het drie honde
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] Sy kan Duits praat
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] Ons sal nie laat kom nie
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] Hulle het melk en brood gekoop

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Afrikaans
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] Kan jy jou naam vir my gee?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] Ek sal vir jou geld gee
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] Sy het vir hom 'n brief geskryf
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] Hulle het haar gister besoek
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] Kan sy ons help?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] Hy het vir hulle kos gegee

Possessive Pronouns - Afrikaans
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] My naam is Maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] Jou broer woon hier
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] Haar ma kook vir ons
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] Sy stokperdjie is om boeke te lees
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] Ons droom is om Parys te besoek
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] Hulle huis is nie ver nie

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Afrikaans
this is my house Dit is my huis
that restaurant is far Daardie restaurant is ver
these apples are delicious Hierdie appels is heerlik
those stars are shiny Daardie sterre is blink

I hope you learned a lot about the Afrikaans grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!