Every language has a set of fixed formulas you say on social autopilot — the things you reach for when someone sneezes, has a birthday, or holds a door. You don't build them word by word; you store and retrieve them whole. Afrikaans has its own set, and a few of them carry meanings that English handles completely differently. Learn these as fixed units, the way you learned bless you without parsing it, and you will sound at ease in everyday Afrikaans from day one. (Greetings and farewells like Goeiemôre and Tot siens have their own page — see greetings.)
Thanks: dankie and baie dankie
The basic "thank you" is dankie. To make it warmer — "thanks a lot," "thank you very much" — you say baie dankie ("many thanks"). You can extend it with vir ("for") to name what you are thankful for.
Baie dankie!
Thank you very much!
Dankie vir die ete — dit was heerlik.
Thanks for the meal — it was delicious.
The typical response to thanks is plesier ("[my] pleasure") or nie te danke nie ("don't mention it"). Do not answer with welkom; that is an English transfer error.
Dankie vir die hulp! — Plesier!
Thanks for the help! — My pleasure!
Please: asseblief
The "please" word is asseblief. It softens any request and can sit at the end of a sentence or just after the verb.
Gee my asseblief 'n glas water.
Please give me a glass of water.
Apologies: jammer, ekskuus, verskoon my
Afrikaans has a small family of apology formulas, and they are not interchangeable:
| Formula | Use it for | English |
|---|---|---|
| Jammer | a genuine "sorry" — regret, sympathy, a small mistake | Sorry / I'm sorry |
| Ekskuus | excuse me — to pass, to get attention, "pardon?" | Excuse me / Pardon |
| Verskoon my | a more formal "excuse me / forgive me" | Excuse me (formal) |
Jammer, ek het jou nie gesien nie.
Sorry, I didn't see you.
Ekskuus tog, mag ek net verbykom?
Excuse me, may I just get past?
Verskoon my, waar is die stasie?
Excuse me, where is the station?
The phrase Ekskuus tog (with the particle tog) is a softened, slightly pleading "excuse me / so sorry" — the tog adds a note of earnest appeal. The typical reply to a jammer is reassuring: Dis okay or Dit maak nie saak nie ("it doesn't matter").
Jammer ek is laat! — Dis okay, moenie worry nie.
Sorry I'm late! — It's okay, don't worry.
Congratulations: geluk
For congratulations — a birthday, a wedding, a new job, an exam passed — you say geluk ("congratulations," literally "luck/fortune"), usually with met to name the occasion.
Geluk met jou verjaarsdag!
Happy birthday! (lit. congratulations on your birthday)
Baie geluk met die nuwe werk!
Congratulations on the new job!
Note that the Afrikaans birthday formula is Geluk met jou verjaarsdag — congratulations on the birthday — rather than a wish like English happy birthday. (The fuller song-style wish Veels geluk exists too, especially when sung.)
The one that surprises English speakers: sterkte
Here is the formula that has no single-word English equivalent and that English speakers consistently miss. Sterkte literally means "strength," and you wish it to someone who faces something hard — illness, a difficult exam, grief, a daunting task. It is a gesture of solidarity: I'm with you; be strong. You do not wish good luck (which is about chance) when the situation calls for endurance — you wish sterkte.
Sterkte met die eksamen!
Good luck with the exam! (lit. strength with the exam)
Ek het gehoor van jou pa. Sterkte.
I heard about your dad. Be strong / my thoughts are with you.
Alles van die beste met die onderhoud!
All the best with the interview!
After a sneeze: gesondheid
When someone sneezes, you say Gesondheid! ("health!") — the exact counterpart of English bless you or German Gesundheit. English speakers, oddly, often forget this one entirely because their reflex (bless you) doesn't translate literally.
Haa-tsjoe! — Gesondheid!
Achoo! — Bless you!
Other small wishes
A handful of brief good wishes round out the everyday set:
| Formula | When | English |
|---|---|---|
| Geniet dit! | handing over food, sending someone off to enjoy something | Enjoy it! |
| Smaaklike ete! | at the start of a meal | Enjoy your meal! |
| Beterskap! | to someone who is ill | Get well soon! |
| Welgedaan! | praising an achievement | Well done! |
Hier is jou kos — geniet dit!
Here's your food — enjoy!
Common mistakes
❌ Goeie geluk met die eksamen! (calquing English 'good luck')
Incorrect — a hard task takes sterkte, not a literal 'good luck'.
✅ Sterkte met die eksamen!
Good luck with the exam!
❌ Dankie! — Welkom!
Incorrect — 'welkom' is not the reply to thanks; that's English transfer.
✅ Dankie! — Plesier!
Thanks! — My pleasure!
❌ (silence after a sneeze)
A native speaker would say something — gesondheid is expected.
✅ Gesondheid!
Bless you!
❌ Gelukkige verjaarsdag aan jou.
Understandable but un-idiomatic — the fixed formula uses 'geluk met'.
✅ Geluk met jou verjaarsdag!
Happy birthday!
Key takeaways
- Store these as whole units, the way you stored bless you — don't build them word by word.
- Thanks: dankie / baie dankie; reply plesier or nie te danke nie, never welkom.
- Apologies split three ways: jammer (sorry), ekskuus (excuse me), verskoon my (formal).
- Congratulations is geluk met...; a sneeze gets gesondheid.
- Sterkte ("strength") is the distinctly Afrikaans solidarity wish for someone facing hardship — there is no single English word for it. For more good wishes and blessings, see blessings and wishes.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Greetings and Leave-TakingA1 — How to greet, ask how someone is, and say goodbye in Afrikaans — the time-of-day system, the standard Hoe gaan dit exchange, and warm farewells like lekker dag and sterkte.
- Expressions and Idioms: OverviewA2 — A map of Afrikaans fixed expressions — social formulas, everyday idioms, proverbs and exclamations — and why so much of the imagery comes from the farm, the weather and the Dutch heritage.
- Blessings, Wishes and ToastsA2 — How to congratulate, toast, bless and wish people well in Afrikaans — from Veels geluk and Gesondheid to the mag-optative (Mag dit goed gaan) that preserves the lost subjunctive.
- Apologies and Conversational RepairB1 — Afrikaans splits English 'sorry' into a three-level apology system — ekskuus, jammer, ek vra om verskoning — and has its own toolkit for fixing conversational trouble.
- Useful Fixed Phrases and Discourse ChunksA2 — Ready-made conversational chunks — nou-nou, netnou, in elk geval, dit hang af, kom ons sê — to learn whole and deploy without building from scratch.