Afrikaans has two empty "placeholder" subjects — words that fill the subject slot without naming any real doer. They are dit and daar, and learners chronically mix them up. The good news is that the rule is genuinely simple, simpler than most guides make it: English "it" becomes dit, and English "there" becomes daar. Translate the English dummy you would use and you will almost always pick the right Afrikaans one. This page nails down that correspondence and the handful of cases where you have to think for a second.
The one-line rule
Both languages use empty subjects in the same situations, and they line up:
| If English uses… | Afrikaans uses… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| it (weather, time, evaluation) | dit | Dit reën. — It's raining. |
| there (existence, appearance) | daar | Daar is melk. — There's milk. |
That is the whole engine. It's raining → Dit reën. There's a problem → Daar is 'n probleem. It's late → Dit is laat. There are too many people → Daar is te veel mense. If you can decide between English "it" and "there," you can decide between dit and daar.
dit: weather, time, and evaluation
dit is the dummy for impersonal statements about conditions — the weather, the temperature, the hour — and for evaluations of a situation. There is no real thing that "does" the raining or the being-late; dit just holds the subject slot, exactly like English empty "it."
Dit reën al die hele oggend.
It's been raining all morning.
Dit is koud buite — trek 'n baadjie aan.
It's cold outside — put on a jacket.
Dit is laat; ons moet nou ry.
It's late; we should get going now.
Dit gaan goed met my, dankie.
It's going well with me / I'm doing fine, thanks.
Each of these is "it" in English and dit in Afrikaans. No existence is being asserted, nothing is being introduced — the sentence is simply commenting on a state of affairs.
dit: anticipating a clause
dit also stands in for a clause that arrives later — an om te infinitive or a dat-clause. You open with dit, then deliver the real content at the end. English does precisely the same with anticipatory "it."
Dit is lekker om in die son te sit.
It's nice to sit in the sun.
Dit is moeilik om te sê wat gaan gebeur.
It's hard to say what's going to happen.
Dit lyk asof dit gaan reën.
It looks as if it's going to rain.
In Dit is lekker om in die son te sit, the real subject is the whole infinitive phrase; dit is the placeholder that lets it come last. Again the English cue is "it" — "it's nice to..." — so dit is correct. The fuller behaviour of dit across all its uses is on the pronoun dit.
daar: existence and appearance
daar is the dummy for asserting that something exists or for introducing something new onto the scene. The English cue here is "there is / there are / there was."
Daar is melk in die yskas.
There's milk in the fridge.
Daar was baie mense by die mark.
There were lots of people at the market.
Daar staan 'n man by die hek.
There's a man standing at the gate.
Daar het iets snaaks gebeur.
Something strange happened. / There's something strange that happened.
Note that daar is never changes for number — it is daar is whether one thing or a hundred exist, because Afrikaans verbs do not mark number. The mechanics of this, and the vivid presentative Daar kom die bus!, are covered on existential and presentational daar.
The two sentences side by side
The cleanest way to feel the contrast is to put a dit sentence next to a daar sentence built from similar material:
Dit is laat.
It's late. (a comment on the time)
Daar is baie tyd.
There's plenty of time. (asserting that time exists)
The first evaluates when it is — empty "it," so dit. The second asserts that a quantity of time exists — "there is," so daar. Same noun area (time), opposite dummy, because the English dummy is opposite too. One more pair:
Dit reën.
It's raining. (a weather condition)
Daar staan 'n man in die reën.
There's a man standing in the rain. (introducing a new person)
The two traps
Two specific errors account for almost all mistakes, and both come from forcing the wrong English instinct.
Trap 1 — using daar for evaluative "it." English "it's late / it's nice / it's hard" tempts some learners toward daar because the sentence feels like it is "setting a scene." It is not. Evaluations and conditions are always dit.
❌ Daar is laat, ons moet gaan.
Incorrect — evaluating the time is 'it', so the dummy is dit, not daar.
✅ Dit is laat, ons moet gaan.
It's late, we should go.
Trap 2 — using dit for existential "there." Conversely, Dit is 'n probleem does not mean "there's a problem" — it means "it is a problem" (identifying some specific thing as a problem). To assert that a problem exists, you need daar.
❌ Dit is 'n probleem met die internet. (meaning: there's a problem)
Misleading — 'Dit is' identifies a known thing as a problem; to assert a problem exists, use 'Daar is'.
✅ Daar is 'n probleem met die internet.
There's a problem with the internet.
Common mistakes
❌ Daar is lekker om te swem.
Incorrect — evaluation with an anticipated clause takes dit, not daar.
✅ Dit is lekker om te swem.
It's nice to swim.
❌ Dit is baie mense by die deur.
Incorrect — asserting that people exist/are present is 'there are', so use daar.
✅ Daar is baie mense by die deur.
There are lots of people at the door.
❌ Daar reën vandag.
Incorrect — weather is empty 'it', so the dummy is dit.
✅ Dit reën vandag.
It's raining today.
❌ Is 'n probleem met die motor.
Incorrect — the dummy daar cannot be dropped; the first slot must be filled.
✅ Daar is 'n probleem met die motor.
There's a problem with the car.
Key takeaways
- The one-line rule: English "it" → dit; English "there" → daar. Translate the English dummy and you pick the right Afrikaans one.
- dit is for weather, time, and evaluation (Dit reën, Dit is laat) and as a placeholder for a later clause (Dit is lekker om te swem).
- daar is for asserting existence or introducing something new (Daar is melk, Daar staan 'n man); daar is never changes for number.
- Trap 1: don't use daar for evaluative "it" (Dit is laat, not Daar is laat).
- Trap 2: don't use dit for existential "there" — Dit is 'n probleem means "it is a problem," while Daar is 'n probleem means "there is a problem."
- For the deeper mechanics, see existential and presentational daar and the pronoun dit.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Impersonal Constructions: dit and daarB2 — Afrikaans uses dummy dit for weather, time and evaluation (dit reën, dit is laat) and existential daar for 'there is/are' (daar is) — with daar is invariant for number.
- Existential and Presentational daarB1 — How daar builds 'there is / there are' sentences, why the verb never agrees in number, and how presentational daar with motion verbs becomes a vivid narrative device.
- The Pronoun dit: it, this, thatA2 — Afrikaans dit is the all-purpose 'it' — subject and object of things, a dummy subject in weather and time phrases, a pointer back to whole ideas, and the source of the contraction dis.