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Beginner's Grammar Points Recap

[A] to [D] Review: Instructions

First try to answer each question and once you are done, listen to the audio stream above.

A — Pronouns

• subject • object • possessive & • poss. adjectives

  • Explain what a personal pronoun is -- what is its function in language?
  • Subject Pronouns: what is the Afrikaans for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural pronouns?
  • Object Pronouns: what is the Afrikaans for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural pronouns?
  • Possessive Pronouns: what is the Afrikaans for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural pronouns?
  • Possessive Adjectives: what is the Afrikaans for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural adjectives?
  • Explain the difference between a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective?

B — Verbs:

• conjugated  •regular • prefixed • inseparable compound

• tenses • progressive • questions • negation • modals

  • Tell me which two verbs conjugate and give examples.
  • How are regular verbs similar to prefixed and inseparable compound verbs?
  • How do regular verbs differ from prefixed and inseparable compound verbs?
  • Inseparable compound verbs fall into two groups. Explain each with examples.
  • Know and list the prefixes by heart.
  • Identify the verb type: regular - prefixed - inseparable compounds
    [slaan; gedra; waarsku; oordonder; droom; vat; versoek; bepaal; vlieg; neem; ondersoek; herinner; ontvang; onthou; regverdig; rangskik]
  • List the modal helping verbs with a sentence example for present, future, and past.
  • Make a sentence with any of the sentences above in (i) the past, present, and future, (ii) make any of these sentences a question; (iii) make any of these sentences negative.

Regular Verbs vs Conjugated Verbs

A quick review first on conjugated verbs.

Maybe the easiest way to describe what a conjugated verb is, is to pretend conjugation does not exist. If all verbs were regular then the following two sentences would be fine:

Maybe the easiest way to describe what a conjugated verb is, is to pretend conjugation does not exist. If all verbs were regular then the following two sentences would be fine:

1:"Yesterday I het gewerk, and today I still werk, but by tomorrow I will not werk anymore."
2:"Yesterday I is sick, and today I is still a little sick, but by tomorrow I will not is sick anymore."

So, what we learn from this, is that with regular verbs, the word stays the the same in past, present and future. With conjugated verbs, the words differ in each tense. In Latin for example, the conjugation was so important, you would say "Amo"  I love, and "Amat" He loves. In English we have love and loves, but we still need to say "I" and "He" or you would not be clear on the meaning. In Afrikaans the I, you, he-she-it, we, you, they all use the same form of the verb, and even in the past and in the future, the same verb form is used.

But, that is not true for two verbs: TO BE and TO HAVE.

Present Tense: IS
Past Tense: WAS or was GEWEES
Future Tense: sal WEES.
Present Tense: HET
Past Tense: het geHAD
Future Tense: sal HÊ.
Note: With helping verbs (like KAN, WIL, MAG, and MOET) you use WEES.Note: With helping verbs (like KAN, WIL, MAG, and MOET) you use HÊ. In the past tense, you already have HET and GE- in front of the verb, so remember the HAD, and do not confuse the het with the verb.
Examples:
Janet is hier.
Janet sal Sondag hier wees.
Janet is siek.
Janet sal siek wees.
Janet was siek. OR Janet was siek gewees.
Examples:
Hede: Janet het 'n visie vir die skool.
Toekoms: Janet sal 'n visie vir die skool hê.
Verlede: Janet het 'n visie vir die skool gehad.

Hede: Janet het vriende. 
Toekoms:Janet sal vriende hê.
Verlede: Janet het vriende gehad.

Regular Verbs

A regular verb goes after the subject the present tense.
In the future tense, the helping verb SAL (or GAAN) becomes the second position and the original verb moves to the end of the sentence.
In the past tense, the helping verb HET takes the second position and the verb moves to the end of the sentence and the prefix GE- is added to te verb.

C — Third Position

  • What is the third position?
  • Which word types go in the third position?
  • What is the ranking order of these word types in the third position?

D — Conjunctions

  Verb-Second Conjunctions

  • Give examples of Verb-Second Conjunctions in sentences and explain their purpose.

  Verb-Last Conjunctions

  • What is a verb-last conjunction, and what does it do to the word order?
  • What is the story behind WANNEER and TOE? Explain each with examples.
  • Can you recall at least four of these conjunctions by heart?
  • Create several example sentences with some of the conjunctions you just mentioned (in different tenses).
  • Create a sentence with a verb-last conjunction clause, with the clause being in the future and that also contains a modal helping verb.
  • Repeat the instruction above with the past tense.

  Verb-First Conjunctions

  • If you have a verb-first conjunction what does it do to the word order?
  • Under which other circumstances is this same word order imposed in the sentence in Afrikaans?
  • What is the story behind DAN and TOE? Explain each with examples.
  • Can you recall at least four of these conjunctions by heart?
  • Create several example sentences with some of the conjunctions you just mentioned (in different tenses).