Telling someone how you feel sounds like it should be the simplest thing in a language, but Afrikaans makes a distinction here that English does not, and getting it wrong is a giveaway. The language splits feelings into two camps with two different verbs: lasting emotions use wees (to be) plus an adjective — ek is bly (I'm happy) — while developing bodily sensations use kry (to get) — ek kry koud (I'm getting cold). English flattens both into "I am" (I'm happy, I'm cold), so the kry construction has no direct model in your native grammar. Learn where the seam falls and you unlock a whole layer of everyday Afrikaans.
Emotions: wees + bare adjective
For states of mind and mood, Afrikaans uses wees (the verb to be, which appears as is in the present) followed by a plain, uninflected adjective. There is no copula trickery and no agreement — the adjective stays in its base form for everyone.
| Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|
| Ek is bly | I'm happy / glad |
| Ek is hartseer | I'm sad |
| Ek is kwaad | I'm angry |
| Ek is bang | I'm afraid |
| Ek is moeg | I'm tired |
| Ek is jammer | I'm sorry |
| Ek is verlief | I'm in love |
| Ek is trots | I'm proud |
Ek is so bly om jou te sien!
I'm so happy to see you!
Sy was baie hartseer ná die nuus.
She was very sad after the news.
Moet jy nie vir my kwaad wees nie — dit was 'n ongeluk.
Don't be angry with me — it was an accident.
A handful of these emotions take a preposition to mark what the feeling is about or at. The most important is bang wees vir (to be afraid of) — the vir is obligatory.
Ek is bang vir honde sedert ek 'n kind was.
I've been afraid of dogs since I was a child.
Hy is kwaad vir sy broer.
He's angry at his brother.
Ons is trots op ons span.
We're proud of our team.
Sensations: kry + noun or adjective
Here is the construction English has no model for. Physical sensations that come over you — heat, cold, hunger, thirst, pain, fright — are expressed with kry (to get). The logic is aspectual: kry frames the sensation as something developing, arriving, being acquired, rather than a static fact. Ek kry koud is therefore closer to "I'm getting cold" than "I am cold," and that nuance is exactly the point.
| Afrikaans | Literal | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ek kry koud | I get cold | I'm getting cold |
| Ek kry warm | I get warm | I'm getting hot |
| Ek kry honger | I get hunger | I'm getting hungry |
| Ek kry dors | I get thirst | I'm getting thirsty |
| Ek kry seer | I get sore | I'm hurt / it hurts |
| Ek kry skrik | I get fright | I get a fright |
Trek 'n trui aan — ek kry koud hier buite.
Put on a jumper — I'm getting cold out here.
Kan ons stop om te eet? Die kinders kry honger.
Can we stop to eat? The kids are getting hungry.
Ek kry dors van al die praat.
I'm getting thirsty from all this talking.
The past tense of the pain version is a single solid verb, seergekry (got hurt), one of the everyday words for injuring yourself:
Hy het op die fiets geval en lelik seergekry.
He fell off the bike and got badly hurt.
Ek het my knie gestamp en seergekry.
I knocked my knee and hurt myself.
Wanting: lus / sin wees vir
To express a craving or an urge — "I feel like..." — Afrikaans uses lus wees vir (or lus hê vir) and the close synonym sin hê in. This is the construction for fancying a particular food, drink, or activity.
Ek is lus vir 'n koppie koffie.
I feel like a cup of coffee.
Ek het glad nie lus om vanaand uit te gaan nie.
I don't feel like going out at all tonight.
Sy het sin in iets soets.
She fancies something sweet.
voel + adjective and the idioms of mood
Alongside wees, you can use voel (to feel) plus an adjective for a more momentary, less fixed state — ek voel moeg (I feel tired) shades slightly more towards "right now" than the flatter ek is moeg.
Ek voel vandag nie lekker nie.
I'm not feeling well today.
Hoe voel jy nou ná die operasie?
How are you feeling now after the operation?
Afrikaans is also rich in vivid mood idioms that you will hear constantly and should recognise:
| Idiom | Literal | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| in my noppies | in my (something) | over the moon, delighted |
| op my senuwees | on my nerves | on edge, frazzled, anxious |
| op my tone | on my toes | alert, on guard |
| tjok-en-blok vol | chock-full | completely full / fed up |
| uit my vel uit | out of my skin | beside myself (with joy or rage) |
Sy was in haar noppies oor die werk.
She was over the moon about the job.
Die verkeer het my heeldag op my senuwees gehad.
The traffic had me on edge all day.
How this differs from English
English uses "to be" for almost everything emotional and physical alike — I am happy, I am cold, I am hungry. Afrikaans agrees with you on the emotions (those really are wees + adjective) but parts ways on the sensations, which it treats as things you get rather than things you are. So the calque ek is koud / ek is honger — a direct word-for-word import of "I am cold / I am hungry" — is the hallmark beginner error, and it actually means something odd (closer to "I am a cold person"). The second difference is the prepositions: English says "afraid of, proud of, angry at," and Afrikaans has its own unpredictable set — bang vir, trots op, kwaad vir — that you simply have to memorise as fixed pairs.
Common mistakes
❌ Ek is honger.
Incorrect — hunger is a developing sensation; it takes kry, not is.
✅ Ek kry honger.
I'm getting hungry.
❌ Ek is koud.
Incorrect — this implies you are a cold person; for the sensation use kry.
✅ Ek kry koud.
I'm getting cold.
❌ Ek is bang van honde.
Incorrect — bang takes vir, not van.
✅ Ek is bang vir honde.
I'm afraid of dogs.
❌ Ek het my arm seer gekry. (split + spaced)
Incorrect — seergekry is a single solid past form.
✅ Ek het my arm seergekry.
I hurt my arm.
❌ Ek voel soos koffie.
Incorrect — a calque of 'I feel like coffee'; use lus wees vir.
✅ Ek is lus vir koffie.
I feel like (having) coffee.
Key takeaways
- Emotions use wees / is
- a bare adjective: ek is bly, ek is moeg, ek is bang.
- Developing sensations (cold, heat, hunger, thirst, pain, fright) use kry — ek kry koud, ek kry honger — an aspectual nuance English has no model for. Never ek is honger.
- Learn the preposition with the adjective: bang vir, trots op, kwaad vir.
- "I feel like (having something)" is lus wees vir / sin hê in, never a calque of "I feel like."
- voel + adjective gives a momentary "feel," and mood idioms like in my noppies and op my senuwees are everyday. See the kry verb reference and likes and dislikes.
Now practice Afrikaans
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