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3rd Pos: Time Words

What should you already know:

  • You have memorized the pronouns (link).
  • You understand the difference between subject and object pronouns (link).
  • You studied the word order of Object Pronouns in the sentence as the first item in the 'third position' (or first position after the first verb).
  • When learning about verbs, you learned about negating a sentence (link).
  • You have learned about time words. Please study the following first:
    i. Time Word sentence examples
    ii. Time of the Day
    iii. Cycles of Time
    iv. Days of the Week
    v. Periods of Time

Time Words and Word Order.

Time Words answer the question WHEN? (today, this morning, yesterday, this Wednesday, every year at this time, etc.)

The challenge for English speakers: Time words are often placed before the first verb - that behavior is a dead give-away. For example:

  • He always waits for me. > Hy wag altyd vir my.
  • She never frowns. > Sy frons nooit nie.
  • We often wonder why. > Ons wonder dikwels waarom.

The sentence examples below will show you a regular object, or an Object Pronoun (OP) with a Preposition, and then with an OP. You will see that the OP by itself sticks to the first verb. Each sentence will then be negated with a time word (or time phrase). The word NIE will be replaced by a red X . The time word will be highlighted in green. The OP will be in orange.

  • Die kind sien sy suster by die skool.
  • Die kind sien X elke dag sy suster by die skool X.
  • Die kind speel met sy suster by die skool.
  • Die kind speel  X  vandag met sy suster by die skool X.
  • Die kind sien haar  by die skool.
  • Die kind sien haar  X  gedurende die week by die skool  X.
  • Die kind speel met haar by die skool.
  • Die kind speel  X  soggens met haar by die skool  X.
  • Die kind sien sy broer by die skool.
  • Die kind sien  X vandag sy broer by die skool  X.
  • Die kind speel met sy broer by die skool.
  • Die kind speel X altyd met sy broer by die skool X.
  • Die kind sien hom by die skool.
  • Die kind sien hom nooit by die skool X. (nooit is also green)
  • Die kind speel met hom by die skool.
  • Die kind speel  X soms met hom by die skool X.
  • Die kind sien  X elke twee weke sy susters by die skool.
  • Die kind speel  X uurliks met sy susters by die skool.
  • Die kind sien hulle  X twee maal per dag by die skool.
  • Die kind speel  X elke dag met hulle by die skool.
  • Die kind sien  X elke dag vir ek en Jannie by die skool X.
  • Die kind speel  X elke dag met ek en Jannie by die skool X.
  • Die kind sien ons  X elke dag by die skool X.
  • Die kind speel  X elke tien minute met ons by die skool X.
  • Die kind sien  X maandeliks sy bal by die skool X.
  • Die kind speel  X weekliks met sy bal by die skool X.
  • Die kind sien dit  X baie vroeg elke oggend by die skool X.
  • Die kind speel  X gereeld daarmee* by die skool X. * (see Prepositional Combinations)

Did you notice that ...

1. the time reference 'elke dag' (or other time words) came after the verb and pushed the object on one position.

2. when the object became an objet pronoun, it was the word directly after the first verbs. Do remember, it could be a helping verb too, e.g. Die kind sal homnie elke dag .... .

3. if the object pronoun had a preposition too, e.g. met haar, vir hom, etc. it acted like a regular object and did not take that spot right after the first verb. An interesting behavior that you should have spotted is that when the object pronoun was DIT and it had a preposition, e.g. met dit, vir dit, op dit, in dit, etc. these terms morphed to one word, as explained in the lesson on Prepositional Combinations.

4. the first negation was directly after the first verb, with the one exception -- if there was an object pronoun, it made room for the OP. Remember, if the OP had a preposition as a buddy, no deal! The order of these three contenders for the third position (directly after the first verb) is: OP first, then negation, and then the time word, and then other stuff like location, method etc.