BIETJIE

Bietjie means "a little bit" e.g. Gee my net 'n bietjie asseblief.  — Give me just a little bit please.
EK is 'n bietjie moeg vir jou stories. — I am a bit tired of your stories.
Opposite: BAIE

MIN

Min means few or little, and it is used with a noun, e.g. Ek het min tyd. — I have little time.
Die bedelaar het min geld in sy sak. — The beggar has little money in his pocket.
Daar is min bedelaars wat nie drink nie. — There are few hobos who do not drink.
Opposite: BAIE

KLEIN

Klein means small. e.g. Die huis is te klein vir daardie groot familie. — That house is too small for that large family.
Toe ek klein was, was ek stout. — When I was small, I was naughty.
Die tafel is 'n bietjie te klein. — The table is a little bit too small.

Opposite:
GROOT. 

Note: Neither min nor bietjie means small.

MAAL

MAAL could mean:
• 'a meal' e.g. Dit is maaltyd! It is mealtime.
• 'to grind up'. e.g. Maal die vleis (maalvleis) — Grind up the meat. (ground beef)
• 'times' as in multiplication e.g. Twee maal twaalf is vier-en-twintig. — Two times twelve is twenty four. My pa is tien maal sterker as jou pa! — My dad is ten times stronger than your dad!

Note: mal means mad/crazy/looney.

Note: To say "I know." > "Ek weet." WEET often takes a modifier like I know who to, or why, or when, or where, etc.

KEER

KEER could mean:
• 'to prevent or stop' e.g. Keer haar voor sy val. — Brace or stop her before she falls.
• 'times' in the sense of turns. e.g. Dié keer sal ek dit doen. — This time I will do it.
Hoeveel keer moet ek jou vra om stil te bly? — How many times must I ask you to keep quiet.
Dié keer gaan ons nie verloor nie! — This time we're not going to lose.

Note: To say "I know." > "Ek weet." WEET often takes a modifier like I know who to, or why, or when, or where, etc.

TYD

TYD means time. e.g. Tyd is kosbaarder as goud. — Time is more precious than gold.
Dit is etenstyd. -- It is time to eat.

Remember:  "Hoe laat is dit?" and not "Wat is die tyd?"

HELE

HEEL/HELE refers to one whole. e.g.
Hy reis oor die hele land. — He travels all over the country.
Janet het die hele tyd gepraat. — Janet spoke all the time.
Hulle sal vandag oor die hele dorp wees. — They will be all over town today.
Sy het die hele koek geëet. — She ate all of the cake.
Sy het heeldag (die hele dag) gebak. — She baked all day long.

AL

AL is a collection of things. Also, uncountable nouns like water, rice, and sugar take AL. E.g.
Hy het my al sy truie gegee. — He gave me all his sweaters.
Hy het al die roesyntjies geëet. — He ate all the raisins.
Sy drink al die water. — She drank all the water.

ALLES (everything)

ALLES is everything. It replaces the noun. That means ALLES is a pronoun. E.g.
Hy sal alles eet. — He will eat everything.
Alles is reg. — It's all ok. (Everything is right.)
Dit is alles joune. — It is all yours.

ALMAL (everybody)

ALMAL is everybody. E.g.
Almal weet dit is so. — Everybody knows it is so.
Hulle almal wil kom. — They all want to come.

AL (specific)

AL + the (al die kinders; al die bome; al die boeke)
AL + possessive pronoun (al ons kinders, al haar bome, al my boeke) e.g
Jy het al my geld. — You have all my money.
Dit is al wat ek weet. — This is all I know.

Note: AL also means already, e.g.
Ek het dit al gesien. —I have already seen it.

ALLE (generic)

ALLE takes no "die" or 'n or pronoun (like my, jou, haar, ons, etc.) AL refers to specific stuff or people children, or trees, or books, whereas "alle kinders" would mean "all children" (of any age, in any country, etc.) So, all is very general. E.g.
Alle moeders verdien rustyd. — All mothers deserve rest time.
Die gif maak alle insekte dood. — This poison kills all insects.

BLY

BLY means either glad or happy, or it means to stay or remain e.g.
Ek is bly dat hy die werk gekry het. — I am glad that he got the job.
Bly hier, ek sal die kos gaan haal. — Stay here, I'll go and get the food.
Chemie bly 'n moeilike vak. — Chemistry "remains" a difficult subject.

GELUKKIG

means happy (in a sincere sense) or lucky.  Remember, you cannot be gelukkig for someone else e.g.
Sy maak my baie gelukkig. — She makes me very happy.
Jy sal nie weer so gelukkig wees nie. — You won't be that lucky again.

NOG

Nog means still, again, further, as yet, another. (High frequency word.) E.g.
Nog 'n koeldrank sal lekker smaak. — Another cool drink would be great.
Hy is nog nie terug nie. — He is not back yet.
Ek dink hy werk nog daar. — I think he still works there.
Is daar nog iemand wat belangstel? — Is there anyone else who is interested.
Kan ek nog kos kry asseblief? — May I have some more food please.

MEER

Meer means more. Meer is used in a comparative sense. In most other cases, nog would be used. Meer also means lake (body of water). E.g.
Ek het meer penne as julle almal saam. — I have more pens than all of you together.
Hy het meer geld as verstand. — He has more money than brains.

ANDER

Ander indicates "something/someone other than the subject being discussed". E.g.
Het jy enige ander boeke hieroor. — Have you got any other books about this.
Hy sit op die ander kant van die tafel. — He is sitting on the other side of the table.

HARD

Hard means hard (not soft), loud, and tough. Opposite: sag. E.g.
Sy hart is hard. — His heart is hard.
Ons het verhuis--dit was harde werk. — We moved--it was hard work.
'n Harde dag se werk bring goeie geld. — A hard day's work brings good money.
Jy moet hard praat, ek hoor jou nie. — Speak loud pleak, I cannot hear you.

MOEILIK

Moeilik means hard (in the sense of being difficult). Opposite: maklik (easy). E.g.
Algebra is moeilik vir my. — Algebra is difficult to me.
Hy is 'n moeilike mens. — He is a difficult man.

WEG

Weg means way and away. E.g.
Hierdie weg lei nie na Pretoria toe nie. — This road does not lead to Pretoria.
My boek is weg! — My book is gone!(away)
Hierdie is die weg na die waarheid. — This is the way to the truth.
Is daar 'n hoofweg tussen Provo en Denver? — Is there a highway between Provo and Denver?

MANIER

Manier relates to the words manner or way of doing. E.g.
Ek sal dit nie op daardie manier doen nie. — I will not do it in that way.
Op watter manier kan ek jou help? — In which way can be of help?
Ek sal die blomme op my manier rangskik. — I'll arrange the flowers my way.

ROND (around)

Static versus Movement

Static: Describe the shape of something, e.g. Die bal is rond.

Movement: The mental picture of around is "all over" seemingly in a random pattern. Do not go with the round, circular or curvy thinking. Think of a bee in a jar - buzzing all over in all directions, e.g.
Ek loop rond. — I am walking around.
Sy staan rond. — She is standing around.

OM or RONDOM (round)

Static: Over, e.g. Die tyd is om. (Time's up.)

Movement: Ok, now is the time to think circular or round. You walk around (om) the corner. I fly around (om) the globe. I ran right around (rondom) the lake. E.g.
Hy ry om die boom. — He drives around the tree.
Sy kyk om die hoek. — She looks around the corner.
Ons hardloop rondom die rugbyveld. — We run all the way around the rugby field.

Note:
OM is used with verbs, meaning TO or IN ORDER TO, and OM 5 uur > AT 5 o'clock.

SOMMIGE (some)

Used with countable nouns

Countable noun examples: boeke, tafels, stoele, bome, karre, mense, huise, ens.

Voorbeelde: By adding 'van die' you create a specific contect. Compare:
•1 Sommige bome is dood. — Some of the trees are dead. (looking at the forest)
•2 Sommige van die bome is dood. — Some of the trees are dead. (looking at your yard)
•3 Van die bome is dood. — Some of the trees are dead. (looking at your yard)

• Sommige van die boeke is nie hier nie.
• Sommige mense help die opposisie.
• Sommige stoele het gebreek.
• Sommige bome kry nie son nie.
• Sommige karre kom van Duitsland.
• Sommige mense glo die storie.
• Sommige huise het nie elektrisiteit nie.

VAN DIE (some of the)

Non-countable (and countable) nouns: tyd, water, gras, rook, as, geld

Nie-telbare voorbeelde:

• Hy wil van die tyd gebruik om oor sy finansies te praat.
• Van die water het op die vloer geval.
• Van die gras is dood.
• Ek sien van die rook het in die kamer gekom.
• Van die vulkaan se as het op Pompeii geval.
• Ek is so kwaad want van die geld is weg.

Nota: Van die can also be used with countable nouns.

Sommige boeke is weg. = Van die boeke is weg.

Left (links; oor; verlaat; agtergelaat)

Non-related terms in Afrikaans. Be careful.

Voorbeelde:

• Daar is twee boeke oor. > There are two books left.
• Het jy nog geld oor? > Do you have any money left?
• Hy het die vergadering verlaat. > He left the meeting.
• Ja, hy het haar verlaat. > Yes, he left her.
• Draai links by die robot. > Turn left at the light.
• Sy politiek is baie links, hy is linksgesind. > His politics is very left wing, he is a leftist.
• Sy het die boek by die huis agtergelaat. > She left the book at home.

Right (reg, regs, ready, to repair, to succeed)

Non-related terms in Afrikaans. Be careful.

Voorbeelde:

• Jy is reg en ek was verkeerd. > You are right and I was wring.
• Draai regs. Die huis is aan die regterkant. > Turn right. The house is on the right hand side.
• Is jy reg, ek wil gaan. > Are you ready? I want to go.
• Dit is gebreek. Kan jy dit regmaak? >It is broken. Can you fix it?
• Hy het oor en oor probeer. Nou kan hy dit regkry! > He tried over and over again. Now he can do it.