The Afrikaans indefinite article — English a or an — is the tiny word 'n. It is two characters long: an apostrophe followed by a lowercase n. Despite its size, it carries a couple of rules that surprise English speakers and that even printed materials get wrong all the time. This page covers its form, its odd pronunciation, the famous capitalisation rule at the start of a sentence, and the fact that the plural simply drops it.
The form: apostrophe plus lowercase n
The indefinite article is written 'n — and the apostrophe is not optional decoration. It is part of the word's correct spelling, in the same way the dot on an i is part of the letter. Leaving it off (n man) is a spelling error, not a casual shortcut.
'n man
a man
'n vrou
a woman
'n appel
an apple
'n huis
a house
Unlike English, Afrikaans makes no a/an distinction. English switches between a and an depending on whether the next word starts with a vowel sound (a man, an apple). Afrikaans uses the single form 'n in front of everything — 'n man and 'n appel alike. One word, no variants.
The pronunciation: a faint schwa
Here is where 'n defies English expectations. You might assume the apostrophe means you pronounce a clipped "n" sound. In fact 'n is pronounced as a very faint schwa — the neutral uh vowel in the English word the when you say it quickly ("th'") — often with barely any n audible at all. It is the most unstressed, throwaway sound in the language.
Think of it as a quick uh leaning into the next word: 'n man sounds roughly like "uh-man" said fast, 'n appel like "uh-NAP-pel". You never stress it. This is why it shrank to an apostrophe in spelling — it is a worn-down remnant of the old word een ("one"). For the numeral een "one", which is a fully stressed, separate word, see cardinal numbers.
Singular only: the plural drops 'n
The indefinite article appears only with singular countable nouns. Afrikaans has no plural indefinite article at all — to make the phrase plural, you simply delete 'n and pluralise the noun. There is nothing to put in its place.
'n boek → boeke
a book → books
'n kat → katte
a cat → cats
Ek het 'n vraag.
I have a question.
Ek het vrae.
I have questions.
English does the same thing — we say a book but just books, never a books — so this part should feel natural. The trap is the temptation to invent a plural article where none exists. There is no Afrikaans word for "some" in this slot; the bare plural says it all. Likewise, mass nouns (things you cannot count, like water or geld "money") take no 'n: you say Ek het geld ("I have money"), never 'n geld.
The capitalisation rule: this is the big one
This is the rule competitors get wrong constantly, so read it twice. When 'n begins a sentence, it stays lowercase, and the next word takes the capital letter instead.
'n Hond blaf.
A dog is barking.
'n Vrou stap verby.
A woman walks past.
'n Ou man sit op die bank.
An old man is sitting on the bench.
Look carefully at 'n Hond blaf. The 'n is lowercase — even though it opens the sentence — and Hond is capitalised. The logic is that 'n is barely a word at all (it is that worn-down schwa), so the orthography refuses to give it a capital. Instead the capital "jumps" to the first real word. The same thing happens at the start of a heading or a list item.
This rule has no English equivalent — in English the very first word of a sentence is always capitalised, full stop. Afrikaans makes the single exception for 'n. For the broader behaviour of the apostrophe in Afrikaans spelling, see the apostrophe.
Common Mistakes
❌ 'N hond blaf.
Incorrect — the apostrophe-n itself was capitalised.
✅ 'n Hond blaf.
A dog is barking. ('n stays lowercase; Hond takes the capital)
Capitalising the N of 'n is the number-one error at the start of a sentence. Autocorrect on phones and word processors does it automatically because they assume the first character of a sentence must be uppercase — you have to override it.
❌ n man loop in die straat.
Incorrect — the mandatory apostrophe is missing.
✅ 'n Man loop in die straat.
A man is walking in the street.
Dropping the apostrophe turns 'n into a stray letter n. The apostrophe is compulsory in every position.
❌ Ek het 'n boeke.
Incorrect — 'n (singular 'a') used with a plural noun.
✅ Ek het boeke.
I have books.
'n is singular only. To make a phrase plural, drop it and pluralise the noun — never pair 'n with a plural.
❌ Sy drink 'n water.
Incorrect — 'n used with a mass (uncountable) noun.
✅ Sy drink water.
She is drinking water.
Uncountable nouns take no indefinite article, exactly as English says "she drinks water", not "a water".
❌ an appel
Incorrect — importing the English 'an' before a vowel.
✅ 'n appel
an apple (Afrikaans has no 'an' — always 'n)
Key Takeaways
- The indefinite article is 'n — apostrophe plus lowercase n. The apostrophe is mandatory.
- There is no a/an split: 'n is used before consonants and vowels alike.
- It is pronounced as a faint, unstressed schwa (uh), a worn-down form of een "one".
- It is singular and countable only: the plural just drops it ('n boek → boeke), and mass nouns never take it.
- At the start of a sentence, 'n stays lowercase and the next word is capitalised: 'n Hond blaf.
Now practice Afrikaans
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- The Definite Article: dieA1 — Afrikaans die is a single invariable 'the' — where it matches English, where Afrikaans keeps it but English drops it, and how it differs from the stressed demonstrative dié.
- The Apostrophe: 'n and Clipped FormsA1 — Every use of the Afrikaans apostrophe — the article 'n, sentence-initial capitalisation, clipped forms like dis, and foreign-stem diminutives.
- Cardinal NumbersA1 — Afrikaans cardinal numbers 0 to a million, built on one mechanical pattern: for 21 to 99 the unit comes before the ten, joined by en — een-en-twintig (21).