Most courses sort conjunctions by meaning — "joining words," "contrast words," "reason words." For Afrikaans that is the wrong map. The single most important fact about any Afrikaans conjunction is not what it means but what it does to the word order of the clause it introduces. Two conjunctions can translate the same English word and yet build completely different sentences. So learn them by their word-order effect, and the grammar takes care of itself. This page lays out the three classes that effect produces.
Three classes, defined by word order
Afrikaans conjunctions fall into three groups by what they do to the verb in the clause that follows:
| Class | Effect on word order | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Coordinating | Normal main-clause order (verb stays second) | en, maar, of, want, nog |
| Inverting | Inversion — subject moves behind the verb | dus, daarom, derhalwe |
| Subordinating | Verb-final — the verb goes to the very end | dat, omdat, as, toe, terwyl, hoewel, sodat |
The trap for English speakers is that English does none of this — English conjunctions leave the following clause's word order untouched, whatever the conjunction. So you have to build a sensitivity English never gave you: the conjunction is a signal that tells you where the verb must go.
Coordinating: keep the order
Coordinating conjunctions link two clauses of equal weight and leave the second clause in normal main-clause order — the verb stays in second position, just as if the conjunction were not there. The core set is en ("and"), maar ("but"), of ("or"), want ("because/for"), and nog ("nor").
Ek is moeg, maar ek werk nog.
I'm tired, but I'm still working.
Sy bly tuis, want sy is siek.
She's staying home, because she's sick.
In want sy is siek, the verb is sits comfortably in second position — coordinating conjunctions do not disturb the clause. This is the easiest group precisely because it behaves like English. The full list and the subtle want-versus-omdat split are on coordinating conjunctions.
Subordinating: verb to the end
Subordinating conjunctions introduce a dependent clause and push every verb, including the finite one, to the very end of that clause. This is the V2 rule switching off. The big ones are dat ("that"), omdat ("because"), as ("if/when"), toe ("when," past), terwyl ("while"), hoewel ("although"), and sodat ("so that").
Ek bly tuis omdat ek siek is.
I'm staying home because I'm sick.
Look closely: omdat ek siek is ends with the verb is, whereas the coordinating want sy is siek (above) has is in second position. Same meaning, opposite order — entirely because of which conjunction you chose. Another example with terwyl:
Hy luister na musiek terwyl hy kook.
He listens to music while he cooks.
The verb kook ("cooks") sits at the clause end. And when the whole sentence begins with the subordinate clause, the main clause that follows then inverts — but that is a consequence detailed on subordinate clauses.
As dit reën, bly ons binne.
If it rains, we stay inside.
Here the subordinate as dit reën ends in its verb reën, and because it occupies the first slot of the whole sentence, the main clause bly ons inverts. The deeper class is on subordinating conjunctions.
Inverting: subject behind the verb
A third, smaller group of connectors behaves like a fronted adverb: they sit at the start of their clause and force inversion, so the subject moves to just behind the verb. These are the "therefore/so" connectors — dus, daarom, derhalwe (formal).
Dit reën, dus bly ons binne.
It's raining, so we're staying inside.
After dus, the verb bly comes before the subject ons — inversion, exactly as if dus were a fronted "today." Compare:
Ek was laat, daarom het ek 'n taxi geneem.
I was late, so I took a taxi.
Daarom triggers inversion: het ek rather than ek het. English keeps "so I took" with no reordering, which is why this group catches learners out. They get their own page at inverting conjunctions.
Why the word-order framing wins
The reason to sort by effect rather than meaning is that meaning is unreliable as a guide. "Because" is want (coordinating) or omdat (subordinating); "so" is dus/daarom (inverting) or sodat (subordinating). If you memorise these by translation, you will guess the word order wrong half the time. If instead you file each conjunction under coordinating / inverting / subordinating, the word order is automatic the moment you reach for it. That is the framing this whole group is built on, and it is the single most useful thing to internalise about Afrikaans connectors — temporal ones included, mapped on temporal conjunctions.
Common mistakes
The errors all come from treating same-meaning conjunctions as interchangeable for word order.
❌ Ek bly tuis omdat ek is siek.
Incorrect — omdat is subordinating, so the verb 'is' must go to the end.
✅ Ek bly tuis omdat ek siek is.
I'm staying home because I'm sick.
❌ Sy bly tuis want sy siek is.
Incorrect — want is coordinating, so the verb stays second: 'want sy is siek'.
✅ Sy bly tuis want sy is siek.
She's staying home because she's sick.
❌ Dit reën, dus ons bly binne.
Incorrect — dus forces inversion; the verb must come before the subject.
✅ Dit reën, dus bly ons binne.
It's raining, so we're staying inside.
❌ Ek werk hoewel ek is moeg.
Incorrect — hoewel is subordinating; the verb 'is' goes to the end.
✅ Ek werk hoewel ek moeg is.
I'm working although I'm tired.
Key takeaways
- Sort Afrikaans conjunctions by their word-order effect, not their meaning — meaning misleads.
- Coordinating (en, maar, of, want) keep normal main-clause order — see coordinating conjunctions.
- Subordinating (dat, omdat, as, terwyl, hoewel, sodat) send the verb to the clause end — see subordinating conjunctions.
- Inverting connectors (dus, daarom) flip the subject behind the verb — see inverting conjunctions.
- The killer pair to remember: want (coordinating) and omdat (subordinating) both mean "because" but build opposite word order.
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- Coordinating: en, maar, of, wantA2 — The coordinating conjunctions en, maar, of, and want keep normal main-clause word order — and want's coordinating status is exactly why it differs from omdat.
- Subordinating: dat, omdat, as, toe, terwyl, sodatB1 — The conjunctions that introduce a dependent clause — dat, omdat, as, toe, terwyl, sodat and friends — and the one rule they all share: they send the finite verb to the very end of their clause.
- Inverting Conjunctions: dus, daarom, toe, danB1 — The conjunctive adverbs — dus, daarom, derhalwe, gevolglik, toe, dan, anders, nietemin, tog — that sit in first position and force the verb before the subject.
- Temporal Conjunctions: toe, as, wanneer, terwyl, nadat, voordatB1 — The subordinators that locate one event in time relative to another — toe, as, wanneer, terwyl, nadat, voordat, sodra — all sending the verb to the clause end.
- Connectors and Their Word Order: A SummaryB2 — A single reference mapping every common Afrikaans connector to its word-order class — coordinating (no change), inverting (verb before subject), subordinating (verb to the end).
- Subordinate Clauses: Verb to the EndA2 — In an Afrikaans subordinate clause the finite verb moves to the very end — the single biggest word-order adjustment English speakers have to make.