Some Afrikaans words are easy to keep apart once you know them, but treacherous before that, because English collapses two meanings into one word. Know is both weet and ken; do is both maak and doen; than and as both surface as as. This page is a quick-reference checklist of the confusions that trip learners up most often — one corrected pair per confusion, plus a pointer to the fuller decision guide where one exists. Skim it before you write; it is designed for self-diagnosis, not deep study.
weet vs ken — two kinds of "know"
ken = to be acquainted with a person, place, or thing (to know someone or something). weet = to know a fact, that something is the case (to know that...). English uses "know" for both; most other European languages split them exactly as Afrikaans does.
❌ Ek weet hom goed.
Incorrect — knowing a person is ken, not weet.
✅ Ek ken hom goed.
I know him well.
✅ Ek weet nie waar hy woon nie.
I don't know where he lives.
The test: if "know" is followed by a person or thing → ken; if it is followed by a fact, clause, or "that/where/why" → weet. See weet vs ken for the edge cases.
maak vs doen — "make" and "do"
maak = to make, create, or fix; doen = to do, carry out, perform. English "do" and "make" map almost exactly, so let your English instinct lead — but watch the fixed expressions, where Afrikaans sometimes chooses differently.
❌ Ek moet nog my huiswerk maak.
Incorrect — homework is performed, so doen.
✅ Ek moet nog my huiswerk doen.
I still have to do my homework.
✅ Sy maak elke oggend koffie.
She makes coffee every morning.
A useful anchor: doen for tasks and activities (werk doen, moeite doen, jou bes doen), maak for producing or repairing something (kos maak, 'n plan maak, iets reg maak). More at maak vs doen.
neem vs vat — "take"
vat and neem both mean "to take", and for the literal grab-with-your-hand sense they overlap. The split is register: vat is the everyday, conversational word, while neem is more formal and shows up in fixed expressions ('n besluit neem — to take a decision, deel neem — to take part). Using neem for everyday grabbing sounds stiff; using vat in a fixed neem-expression sounds wrong.
❌ Ons moet 'n besluit vat.
Incorrect — this fixed expression takes neem.
✅ Ons moet 'n besluit neem.
We have to make a decision.
✅ Vat solank 'n stoel, ek kom nou.
Grab a chair in the meantime, I'm coming now.
See neem vs vat for the full register and idiom breakdown.
na vs ná — direction versus "after"
These two are spelled almost identically but the accent changes the meaning entirely. na (no accent) is the preposition "to / towards"; ná (with an acute accent) means "after" in time. Dropping the accent on ná is one of the most common written errors, because both are pronounced very similarly.
❌ Ons gaan na ete fliek toe.
Incorrect — 'after dinner' needs the accent: ná ete.
✅ Ons gaan ná ete fliek toe.
We're going to the cinema after dinner.
✅ Ek ry nou na die werk toe.
I'm driving to work now.
Note that "to" as a direction is usually framed with na ... toe (a bracket around the destination); see na vs toe for that pattern.
as vs wanneer — two kinds of "when"
Both can translate English "when", but they are not interchangeable. wanneer asks or means "at what time / whenever" and is used in questions and for repeated or future-neutral time. as introduces a condition ("if / when" in the sense of "whenever this happens"). For a single completed past event, Afrikaans uses neither of these but toe — a third trap entirely.
❌ Wanneer dit reën, bly ons binne.
Stilted for a general condition — use as.
✅ As dit reën, bly ons binne.
When (if) it rains, we stay inside.
✅ Wanneer kom jy huis toe?
When are you coming home?
✅ Toe ek klein was, het ons op 'n plaas gewoon.
When I was little, we lived on a farm.
Quick split: wanneer for questions, as for conditions, toe for a one-off past event.
as vs dan — "than" in comparisons
Afrikaans compares with as, not dan. English speakers who know Dutch or German often import dan/als, and English "than" tempts a dan. In standard Afrikaans the comparative word after groter, kleiner, beter and so on is always as.
❌ Sy is langer dan haar broer.
Incorrect — comparison takes as, not dan.
✅ Sy is langer as haar broer.
She is taller than her brother.
This is a high-frequency error worth drilling; see as vs dan.
wie vs wat — "who" versus "that/which"
As a question word, wie = "who" and wat = "what". But as a relative pronoun (the "who/that/which" that links a clause to a noun), modern Afrikaans uses wat for almost everything — people and things. English speakers over-use wie as a relative because of "who".
❌ Die vrou wie langs my sit, is 'n dokter.
Incorrect — the relative pronoun is wat, even for a person.
✅ Die vrou wat langs my sit, is 'n dokter.
The woman who is sitting next to me is a doctor.
✅ Wie het die deur oopgelos?
Who left the door open?
Rule of thumb: wie only when it is the question "who?" or after a preposition (met wie — with whom). For a relative clause, reach for wat.
leer — "learn" and "teach" in one word
leer carries both "to learn" and (informally) "to teach", which surprises English speakers. The clean way to say "teach" is leer with a person as object (Sy leer die kinders lees — she teaches the children to read), while "learn" is leer with the skill as object. For "teach" in a formal or instructional sense, onderrig is the precise word, but it is markedly more formal and far less common in speech.
✅ Ek leer Afrikaans.
I'm learning Afrikaans.
✅ My ouma het my leer brei.
My grandmother taught me to knit.
✅ Sy onderrig wiskunde aan die universiteit.
She teaches mathematics at the university.
Don't reach for onderrig in everyday speech — leer is what people actually say for both learning and teaching.
Common mistakes
❌ Ek weet hom van die skool af.
Incorrect — acquaintance with a person is ken.
✅ Ek ken hom van die skool af.
I know him from school.
❌ Ek het my werk gemaak.
Incorrect — performing work/a task is doen.
✅ Ek het my werk gedoen.
I did my work.
❌ Ek is ouer dan jy.
Incorrect — comparison takes as.
✅ Ek is ouer as jy.
I'm older than you.
❌ Sien jou na die les.
Incorrect — 'after the lesson' needs the accent: ná die les.
✅ Sien jou ná die les.
See you after the lesson.
❌ Die boek wie op die tafel lê, is myne.
Incorrect — the relative pronoun is wat.
✅ Die boek wat op die tafel lê, is myne.
The book that's lying on the table is mine.
Key takeaways
- ken = know a person/thing; weet = know a fact. maak = make/produce; doen = do/perform a task.
- vat is the casual "take"; neem is formal and lives in fixed expressions ('n besluit neem).
- The accent on ná ("after") is meaning-bearing — never drop it; plain na is "to/towards".
- Sort "when": wanneer for questions, as for conditions, toe for a single past event.
- Compare with as, never dan: langer as my broer.
- The relative pronoun is wat, even for people; keep wie for the question "who?".
- For the deeper decision guides, see the choosing overview.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Choosing Between Confusable Forms: OverviewB1 — A guide to the Afrikaans 'which one?' problems — maak vs doen, neem vs vat, na vs toe, jy vs u and more — and why most of them hinge on register or word order rather than meaning.
- as vs dan ('than' for comparison)A2 — Afrikaans uses as — not dan — for 'than' in comparisons, the exact opposite of Dutch, and the single clearest comparison trap for Dutch-background learners.
- weet vs ken (know a fact vs know a person)A2 — How Afrikaans splits English 'know' into weet (know a fact) and ken (be acquainted with a person, place or thing), with the rule, examples, and the edge cases.
- maak vs doen (make vs do)B1 — Afrikaans splits English 'make/do' across maak (create, prepare, cause), doen (perform, carry out) — and a sneaky third verb, neem, for decisions.
- na vs toe (to / towards)A2 — When to use the preposition na before a destination and when to use the postposition toe after it — and why everyday Afrikaans prefers dorp toe over na die dorp.
- neem vs vat (take)B1 — Both neem and vat mean 'take', but the choice is driven by register, not meaning — vat is the everyday, hands-on 'grab', neem is the formal, abstract 'take'.