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VERBS

01 ♦ HOU VAN / IS LIEF VIR / HET LIEF (love)

a. HOU VAN means to like someone/something.
NB! (i) Hou van + people & things (ii) Hou daarvan + verb as infinitive
b. IS LIEF VIR indicates a love you have for someone and even for something. (passive sentences)
c. HET LIEF is the way to say I love (a person).

Examples:

1i. Ek hou van Duitse sportmotors. -- I like German sports cars.
     Ons hou van Suzi en John. -- We like Suzi and John
1ii. Sy hou daarvan om musiek te maak. -- She likes to makes music.
2. Hy is baie lief vir haar. -- He loves her very much.
3. "Ek het jou lief." -- "I love you."

02 ♦ KEN / WEET (know)

a. KEN expresses a thorough acquaintance with something/someone.  It is usually used in short one-action sentences.
b. WEET usually indicates an acquired knowledge, fact you know.

Examples:

Ek ken Kaapstad. -- I know Cape Town.
Ek weet waar Kaapstad is. -- I know where Cape Town is.
Hy het Ronald Reagan persoonlik geken. -- He knew Ronald Reagan personally.
Ek ken my les. -- I know my lesson.
Ek weet hoe om die deur oop te sluit. -- I know how to unlock the door.
Weet jy hoe laat dit is? -- Do you know what the time is?
Wat weet jy? -- What do you know?
Ek weet waar die sleutel is. -- I know where the key is.

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

ii) In English, when using know (weet), you say it directly, e.g.
I know your age.
I know your weight.
I know your address.

In Afrikaans sê ons:
Ek weet wat jou ouderdom is.
Ek weet wat jou gewig is.
Ek weet wat jou adres is. Wrong: Ek weet jou adres.

03 ♦ Sê / VERTEL (tell)

a.  obviously means to say, but it also means to tell!
b. VERTEL would be used if the whole story has to be told (narrated), whereas would allude to a quick exchange of information, yes or no.

Examples:

vir my, wie het die geld gevat? -- Tell me, who took the money?
Ek het vir hom ge dat jy siek is. -- I told him that you are ill.
Vertel my 'n bietjie van jou nuwe vriendin. -- Tell me a little about your new girl friend.
Kan ek haar daarvan vertel? -- Can I tell her about it?
Vertel my die waarheid, wat het daar gebeur? -- Tell me the truth, what happened there?

04 ♦ WEES / WORD / RAAK (get)

a. WEESmeans be or to be.
b. WORD/RAAK means to become, get, getting, and is being.

WEES and WORD: A very clear difference between them:
`Hy sal môre siek wees.' -- He will be ill tomorrow.
`Hy sal môre siek word.'  -- He will fall ill tomorrow.

Dit help om slim te wees. -- It helps to be smart/clever.
Ek sal bly wees. -- I will be glad. 
Sy sê dat sy nie vet wil word nie. -- She says that she doesn't want to become fat.
Sy word vet. -- She is getting fat.
Ons word vertel waar om te sit. -- We are told where to sit. (passive voice [grammar lesson])

Remember: If the sentence is Passive, use WORD, not RAAK.

RAAK (ONLY)

i. BECOME
Ek raak aan die slaap -- I fall asleep.
Ek raak gewoond aan die geraas. -- I get used to the noise.

ii. TOUCH
Ek raak aan sy neus. -- I touch his nose.
Moenie aan die draad raak nie. Dit sal jou skok. -- Do not touch the wire. You will get a shock.

iii. AFFECT
Dit raak my nie.  -- It does not affect me. (I don't care) (It does not matter to me.)
Die inflasie raak almal. -- The inflation affects everybody.
Ek is erg geraak deur sy dood. -- I was profoundly affected by his death.

iiii. "HIT"
Ek het hom raakgegooi. --  I hit him with the ball. (confirming contact in throwing the ball at him)
Hy het 'n kind raakgery. -- He knocked over the child. (confirming that while driving he did knock over, or at lease bumped, the child.
Het die bokser jou raakgeslaan? -- The boxer did hit you. (confirming that when the boxer took a swipe, he did make contact)

05 ♦ "GET"

GET

English is rich in how GET is used. Below are the Afrikaans options when GET gets in the way.

Ek kry warm. -- I am getting hot.
Ek het dit reggekry. -- I got it right.

Fetch  Gaan haal jou boek. -- Go fetch your book.
Gaan haal die bal!  Kom haal jou geld. -- Go fetch your money.

Obtain  Hy het werk gekry. -- He got work.
Hy het 'n salarisverhoging gekry. -- He got a pay increase.

Become Hy word siek. -- He is getting sick.
Hy word beter. -- He is getting beter.
BUT Hy kom in die moeilikheid. -- He is getting in trouble.

Movement Klim in die kar. -- Get in the car.
Klim op die vliegtuig. -- Get on the plane.
Gaan klim in die bed. -- Get in bed.

Understand Snap jy dit!  ...nee, ek verstaan nie. -- Do you get it? No, I don't understand.

06 ♦ "LOS" (let, loose, quit, ...)

To leave alone
Los hom uit, hy wil nie saamwerk nie. -- Leave him along, he does not want to cooperate.

To let go
Los hom, die polisie sal hom kry. -- Let him go, the police will get him.

To quit
Hy't sy werk gelos. Hy't baie probleme. -- He quit his job. He's got lots of problems.

To free, let go, release
Die dief is gister losgelaat; ek verstaan dit nie! -- The thief was released yesterday; I don't understand it.

To loosen
Maak die toue los. Dit is te styf. -- Loosen the ropes. It is too tight.

07 ♦ LAAT / KOM / MAAK

a. LAAT means: (i) To let or allow, (ii) To leave alone, (iii) To make someone do something.
b. KOM means (iv) the usual come, but it is also used to say (v) "Let's do this or that."
c. (vi) MAAK versus (vii) LAAT (forced)

Examples:

i. Laat hom ingaan as hy wil. Let him enter if he wants to.
ii. Laat staan tog nou die rookgewoonte. Quit this smoking habit.
iii. Laat roep hom dadelik! Have him be called immediately!
iii. Hy het ons hard laat werk. He made us work very hard.
iv. Kom huis toe asseblief. Come home please.
v. Kom ons gaan! Let's go!
v. Kom ons vra hom. Let's ask him.
v. Kom ons waai.Let's split.
vi. Hy maak my kwaad. He makes me angry.
vi. Asseblief, hou op. Dit maak haar bang. Please quit. It scares her.
vi. Dit maak nie saak nie. It does not matter.
vii. Ek het hom in die hoek laat staan. I make him stand in the corner.
vii. Sy het hom om verskoning laat vra. She made him apologize.
vii. Hy laat my glimlag/huil. He makes me smile/cry.

 

08 ♦ KYK / LYK

a. KYKmeans to look or to see. 
b. LYKmeans to appear, look like or to seem.  (Lyk also means corpse.)

Examples:

Kyk daar!  Die man gaan spring! -- Look there! The man is going to jump!
Ek kyk net of hy alles verstaan. -- I'm just seeing if he understands everything.
Dit lyk asof hy die partytjie geniet. -- It seems as if he is enjoying the party.
Gaan was jouself!  Jy lyk soos 'n vark! -- Go and wash yourself!  You look like a pig!

09 ♦ OOPMAAK / OPEN (open)

a. OOPMAAKcan only be used literally.
b. OPENis used figuratively.

Examples:

Ek maak die deur oop. -- I open the door.
Hy sal die pakkie oopmaak. -- He will open the parcel.
Hy open die vergadering met 'n gebed. -- He opens the meeting with prayer.
Hy wil 'n bankrekening open. -- He wants to open a bank account.

10 ♦ TOEMAAK / SLUIT (close, lock)

a.TOEMAAKis used literally only.
b. SLUITcan be used literally, meaning to lock or it is used figuratively, meaning to close.

Examples:

Hulle het al die vensters toegemaak. -- They closed all the windows.
Moenie die boek toemaak nie! -- Don't close the book!
Al die deure is gesluit. -- All the doors are locked.
Sluit dit oop! -- Unlock it!
Die winkels sluit om 5 uur. -- The shops close at 5 o'clock.
Ek wil nie my rekening sluit nie. -- I do not want to close my account.

11 ♦ STUDEER / BESTUDEER (study, study in depth)

a. STUDEERmeans to study.
b. BESTUDEERmeans to study in depth  or closely, or to investigate.

Examples:

Ek studeer elke aand. -- I study every evening.
Wat studeer jy op universiteit? -- What are you studying at university?
Ek bestudeer mikroörganismes. -- I study microorganisms.
Sy bestudeer die manuskrip. -- She studies the manuscript.

12 ♦ LY / LEI (suffer, lead)

a. LYmeans to suffer
b. LEImeans to lead.

Examples: 

Hy ly aan kanker. -- He suffers from cancer.
Die pyn is erg; sy ly vreeslik. -- The pain is bad she suffers terribly much.
Moses lei die Israëliete. Hy is 'n leier. -- Moses leads the Israelites. He is a leader.

13 ♦ ERKEN / HERKEN (recognize)

a. ERKENmeans to acknowledge or to admit (confess).
b. HERKENmeans to recognize.

Examples: 

Chris Barnard was as 'n uitstekende chirurg erken. -- Chris Barnard was recognised as an excellent surgeon.
My ouma het erken dat Die Beatles goed kan sing. -- My grandmother admitted that The Beatles sing well.
Alhoewel ons mekaar 20 jaar gelede gesien het, het ek hom dadelik herken. -- Although we haven't seen each other for 20 years, I recognised him immediately.

14 ♦ VAT / NEEM (take)

a. VATmeans to grip or to hold or to take. (bold action)
b. NEEMmeans to take.  (gentle action)

Examples: 

Hy vat my geld. -- He takes my money.
Dit vat moed om die waarheid te praat. -- It takes courage to speak the truth.
Neem die boek en gee dit vir jou ma. -- Take the book and give it to your mom.
Hy neem te lank om te doen. -- He takes too long to do it.

15 ♦ DIEN [dienaar] / BEDIEN [bediende] (serve)

a. DIENmeans to serve=worship. 'n DIENAAR is a servant (of God)=worshipper.
b. BEDIENmeans to serve (man). 'n BEDIENDE  is a manservant.

Examples: 

Die gelowige man dien die Here. -- The believing man serves the Lord.
Hy is 'n dienaar van die Allerhoogste. -- He is a servant of the Allmighty.
By daardie restaurant bedien die eienaar self. -- At that restaurant the owner serves himself.
Die bediende het vergeet om die vloere te was. -- The servant forgot to wash the floors.

16 ♦ GEDINK / DOG, DAG (thought)

a. GEDINK- To express a thought in the past tense
b. DOG/DAG - for an erroneous supposition

Examples: 

Haai, ek dog jy was siek! -- Hey, I thought you were ill!
Het jy daaroor gedink? -- Have you thought about it?
Raai wat? Hy het gedog ek het dit gedoen. -- Guess what? He thought I did it.
Soos jy weet, om iets te oordink of 'n ding te sit en uitdink is 'dink' in die hede en 'gedink' in die verlede. -- As jou know, to think something over, or to think it through is DINK in the present and GEDINK in the past.

DOG, DAG, GEDOG, GEDAG is alles dieselfde -- "Ek was onder die indruk, ... OF "Ek het met die veronderstelling uitgegaan dat...."

DOG, DAG, GEDOG, GEDAG are all the same-- "I was under the impression.... OR "I supposed that...."

Jy en jou man bestel 'n hamburger. Jy het nie geld nie en jy kyk na jou man, wat ook nou na jou kyk, en jy sê: "Ek dag jy het geld saamgebring!"

You and your husband order a hamburger. You do not have money an dyou look at your husband, who is now also looking at you, and you say: "I  --dag-- you brought some money!"

Maar jy kan ook sê / But you can also say:
"Ek dog jy het geld saamgebring!"
"Ek gedog jy het geld saamgebring!"
"Ek gedag jy het geld saamgebring!"

DOG en DAG is die sterk verlede vorms van die werkwoord, en dit word gebruik om unieke betekenisse van die normale swar verlede form van die werkwoord te gee.

Byvoorbeeld / Example:  BREEK

Ek het die stoel GEBREEK. en Hierdie is 'n gebreekte stoel. (I broke the chair. It is a broken chair)

Maar "Die meisie huil -- sy het 'n gebroke hart." (The girl cries -- she has a broken heart.)

17 ♦ BEDOEL / BETEKEN (mean)

a. BEDOEL- relates to people
b. BETEKEN - relates to things

Examples: 

Wat beteken dit! -- What is this supposed to mean!
Beteken dit dat hy gaan kom? -- Does that mean he's coming?
Wat bedoel hy daarmee? -- What does he mean by that?
Ek dink nie hy bedoel dit nie. -- I don't think he means it.

Note: Each time the word beteken was used, it pointed to a thing, and each time the word bedoel is used, it points to a person. Beteken kind of means, what does it signify and bedoel means what is it's intent.

18 ♦ VERLAAT / VERTREK (leave)

a. VERTREK
Ek vertrek om vyf-uur. Ek moet nou vertrek, totsiens! (to depart)

b. VERLAAT
Ek verlaat my familie. Ek verlaat Wisconsin permanent. Hy verlaat die skool en begin werk. (to leave)

Rule: You verlaat a place or thing. Vertrek is just depart, no place connected, but you can say Hy vertrek van die stasie af.  -- He leaves from the station, but that does not means he leaves the station. Then you would say, Hy verlaat die stasie.