Prepositions are where vocabulary stops being logical. Which preposition follows a verb or adjective is fixed by convention, not meaning — wait for, not wait at — and every language draws the lines differently. That makes prepositions the single place where both of the big Afrikaans learner groups fail at once: English speakers import English prepositions, Dutch speakers import Dutch ones, and they often produce different wrong answers for the same word. This page pairs the two wrong forms side by side so you can see exactly which trap is yours. For the broader systems behind these, see verb + preposition collocations and prepositional collocations.
wag vir — "wait for" (the Dutch trap, not the English one)
Afrikaans waits with vir: wag vir. English speakers get this right by luck — "wait for" maps neatly onto wag vir. The trap here is Dutch: Dutch waits with op (wachten op), so a Dutch speaker reaches for wag op, which is wrong for waiting on a person or an event.
Ons wag al 'n halfuur vir die bus.
We've been waiting half an hour for the bus.
Wag vir my by die hek — ek kom nou.
Wait for me at the gate — I'm coming now.
bang vir — "afraid of" (both groups wrong, differently)
The thing you fear takes vir: bang vir. Here both groups slip, in opposite directions. English speakers say "afraid of" and want bang van. Dutch speakers say bang voor and want bang voor — and voor in Afrikaans means "in front of / before," so it sounds especially wrong. The right answer is neither: vir.
My dogtertjie is bang vir die donker.
My little daughter is afraid of the dark.
Wees nie bang vir die hond nie — hy byt nie.
Don't be afraid of the dog — he doesn't bite.
trots op — "proud of" (the English trap)
You are proud on something in Afrikaans: trots op. This one catches English speakers, who say "proud of" and reach for trots van. Dutch speakers are safe — Dutch also says trots op — so this is a clean English-only error.
Ek is so trots op jou — jy het hard gewerk.
I'm so proud of you — you worked hard.
Hulle is trots op hul nuwe huis.
They're proud of their new house.
luister na — "listen to" (the English trap)
You listen toward something: luister na. English speakers want "listen to" and produce luister tot or luister vir. Dutch speakers say luisteren naar and transfer it correctly to luister na — another clean English-only error.
Luister na my — dis belangrik.
Listen to me — it's important.
Sy luister elke aand na die radio.
She listens to the radio every evening.
dink aan — "think of / about" (the English trap)
To have someone on your mind, you dink aan them. English speakers want "think of/about" and produce dink van or dink oor. (Afrikaans dink oor does exist, but it means "ponder, mull over a question" — not "have in mind.") For "I'm thinking of you," it must be dink aan. Dutch speakers say denken aan and get it right.
Ek dink heeldag aan jou.
I think about you all day.
Dink aan jou ouma — sy sou dit so gewaardeer het.
Think of your grandmother — she would have appreciated it so much.
jaloers op — "jealous of"
You are jealous on something: jaloers op. English speakers want "jealous of" and reach for jaloers van. The correct preposition is op, the same one that surfaces in trots op and verlief op.
Hy was jaloers op my nuwe motor.
He was jealous of my new car.
verlief op — "in love with"
You fall in love on someone: verlief op (or raak verlief op for "fall in love with"). English speakers want "in love with" and produce verlief met. Again the preposition is op.
Sy het op universiteit verlief geraak op haar man.
She fell in love with her husband at university.
kwaad vir — "angry with / at"
You are angry for someone: kwaad vir. English speakers want "angry with/at" and reach for kwaad met or kwaad teen. Dutch speakers, whose kwaad op uses op, may produce kwaad op. The Afrikaans frame is vir.
Moenie vir my kwaad wees nie — dit was nie my skuld nie.
Don't be angry with me — it wasn't my fault.
glo in — "believe in"
To believe in something or someone, Afrikaans uses glo in — here English transfers cleanly ("believe in" = glo in). The error to watch is overgeneralising aan from Dutch geloven aan in some senses; for belief in a person or a cause, it is in.
Ek glo in jou — jy kan dit doen.
I believe in you — you can do it.
The side-by-side picture
Lined up, the pattern is clear: the two learner groups fail at different words, because each transfers from a different source language. This table is the page in one glance.
| Meaning | Correct Afrikaans | English-transfer error | Dutch-transfer error |
|---|---|---|---|
| wait for | wag vir | — (English right) | wag op (from wachten op) |
| afraid of | bang vir | bang van (from "of") | bang voor (from bang voor) |
| proud of | trots op | trots van (from "of") | — (Dutch right) |
| listen to | luister na | luister vir / tot | — (Dutch right) |
| think of/about | dink aan | dink van / oor | — (Dutch right) |
| jealous of | jaloers op | jaloers van | — (Dutch right) |
| in love with | verlief op | verlief met | — (Dutch right) |
| angry with | kwaad vir | kwaad met / teen | kwaad op |
Common mistakes
❌ Ek is trots van my seun. (meaning: I'm proud of my son — English 'of' transferred)
Incorrect — proud takes op, not van: trots op.
✅ Ek is trots op my seun.
I'm proud of my son.
❌ Sy is bang voor spinnekoppe. (meaning: She's afraid of spiders — Dutch 'voor' transferred)
Incorrect — Dutch bang voor becomes bang vir in Afrikaans; voor means 'in front of'.
✅ Sy is bang vir spinnekoppe.
She's afraid of spiders.
❌ Ons wag op die trein. (meaning: We're waiting for the train — Dutch 'wachten op' transferred)
Incorrect — Afrikaans waits with vir: wag vir die trein.
✅ Ons wag vir die trein.
We're waiting for the train.
❌ Luister vir my! (meaning: Listen to me — English 'to' mis-transferred)
Incorrect — listen takes na: luister na my.
✅ Luister na my!
Listen to me!
❌ Ek dink van jou. (meaning: I'm thinking of you — English 'of' transferred)
Incorrect — to have someone in mind, use dink aan, not dink van.
✅ Ek dink aan jou.
I'm thinking of you.
Key takeaways
- Prepositions are fixed by convention, not logic — learn each verb/adjective and its preposition as one unit.
- English speakers wrongly import "of" (→ trots van, bang van, dink van) and "to" (→ luister vir).
- Dutch speakers wrongly import voor (→ bang voor), op with wachten (→ wag op), and op with kwaad (→ kwaad op).
- Two helpful families: vir for the target of an emotion (bang vir, kwaad vir) and op for pride, jealousy, and love (trots op, jaloers op, verlief op).
- When the families disagree with your instinct, trust the memorised pair — see verb + preposition collocations.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Verb-Preposition CollocationsB2 — Many Afrikaans verbs demand a specific, fixed preposition — wag vir, dink aan, reken op — and the preposition rarely matches the English one, so the safest strategy is to learn the verb and its preposition as a single chunk.
- Fixed Prepositional CollocationsB2 — Adjectives that lock to a particular preposition — trots op, lief vir, gewoond aan — and why you cannot guess them from English.
- Afrikaans Prepositions: OverviewA1 — A map of the Afrikaans preposition system — invariant little words, many cognate with English, plus the destination postposition 'toe' and circumpositions English lacks.