The default in Afrikaans is to write compounds solid — one unbroken word, no space and no hyphen: kerkdeur (church door), boekrak (bookshelf), motorhuis (garage). This is the single biggest spelling difference from English, which keeps most compounds as two words, and it is covered in full on compound nouns. This page is about the exceptions: the specific situations where the official spelling rules (the Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls, the AWS) require a hyphen instead of writing solid. There are only a handful of triggers, and the most important one is beautifully systematic — it is the same impulse that puts a diaeresis inside a single word, only operating at the seam between two words.
The main trigger: a vowel clash at the seam
When the first part of a compound ends in a vowel and the second part begins with a vowel, writing them solid would create a string that the eye misreads as a single long vowel or a diphthong. Afrikaans breaks that clash with a hyphen:
| Parts | Solid would be | Correct hyphenated form | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| see + eend | seeeend (unreadable) | see-eend | sea duck / eider |
| na + aap | naaap | na-aap | to mimic / ape |
| see + olifant | seeolifant | see-olifant | sea elephant / elephant seal |
| taxi + onderneming | taxionderneming | taxi-onderneming | taxi enterprise |
| foto + uitstalling | fotouitstalling | foto-uitstalling | photo exhibition |
The diagnostic is precise: hyphenate only when the touching vowels would genuinely merge or mislead. See + eend gives a run of three e's that is impossible to parse, so see-eend is required. Na + aap gives aaa, equally unreadable, so na-aap. By contrast, see + kos (seafood) has a consonant after the seam, no clash, and is written solid: seekos.
Ons het 'n see-eend langs die strand sien dryf.
We saw a sea duck floating along the beach.
Die jongste kind probeer altyd sy ouer broer na-aap.
The youngest child always tries to mimic his older brother.
This is why the hyphen here is not an arbitrary rule to memorise word by word. It belongs to the orthography's deeper logic: a written vowel boundary must always be visible. Once you see see-eend as "the compound version of geëet," it stops feeling like an exception and starts feeling like the system being consistent.
Proper nouns and abbreviations
A hyphen also joins a compound when one of its parts is a proper noun (a capitalised name) or an abbreviation/single letter. Writing these solid would either bury the capital inside a lowercase word or fuse a letter-string into the text.
| Type | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| compass + place name | Wes-Kaap | Western Cape |
| compass + place name | Noord-Kaap | Northern Cape |
| compass + place name | Suid-Afrika | South Africa |
| abbreviation + noun | TV-program | TV programme |
| letter + noun | A-vlak | A level |
| letter + noun | U-draai | U-turn |
| letter + noun | x-as | x-axis |
Sy het na die Wes-Kaap getrek vir 'n nuwe pos.
She moved to the Western Cape for a new job.
Maak 'n U-draai by die volgende verkeerslig.
Make a U-turn at the next traffic light.
Die A-vlak-eksamens begin volgende week.
The A-level exams start next week.
Note in the last example that a longer string can chain hyphens: A-vlak is already hyphenated for the letter, and A-vlak-eksamens then attaches the noun with a second hyphen. The first hyphen is forced (letter), the second keeps the long string readable.
Prefixes: solid by default, hyphen only before a proper noun
Here is the trap that catches even fluent writers. The label-like prefixes oud- (former), nie- (non-), eks- (ex-) and non- look as though they should take a hyphen — and English's ex-husband, non-racial encourage that instinct. Under the AWS they do not: before an ordinary common noun they attach solid, exactly like any other compound.
| Prefix | Before a common noun (solid) | English |
|---|---|---|
| oud- (former) | oudpresident | former president |
| oud- (former) | oudleerling | former pupil / alumnus |
| eks- (ex-) | eksman | ex-husband |
| nie- (non-) | nierassig | non-racial |
The hyphen returns the moment the second part is a proper noun — which is just the proper-noun rule from the section above, now reaching the prefix. So oud-Hollands (old Dutch), nie-Bybels (non-biblical), pro-Afrikaans all take a hyphen, because Hollands, Bybels and Afrikaans are capitalised names.
Die oudpresident het 'n boek oor sy jare in die amp geskryf.
The former president wrote a book about his years in office.
Daar is 'n hele nie-Bybelse tradisie agter die storie.
There's a whole non-biblical tradition behind the story.
Distinguish oud- as a prefix from oud as an ordinary adjective. The solid oudpresident means "former president" (someone who used to hold the office); ou president (two words) would just describe an elderly one. The prefix oud- is a fixed "former-in-this-role" element, which is why it fuses solid and does not inflect like the adjective ou.
Hyphen for clarity
Finally, the AWS allows a hyphen purely to prevent misreading when a solid compound would be ambiguous or visually awkward — for instance when the seam accidentally spells another word, or when three identical consonants would meet. This is a judgement call rather than a hard rule, and it is the one place where careful writers differ.
Die kantoor het 'n nuwe rekenaar-netwerk laat installeer.
The office had a new computer network installed.
A classic clarity case is three same consonants at the seam: kuns + stof would not clash, but bal + lig type runs, or compounds where the join produces an unintended word, may take a hyphen so the reader parses the parts correctly. When in genuine doubt, the AWS treats the hyphen as the safer, reader-friendly choice — but do not reach for it on ordinary, unambiguous compounds.
Common mistakes
❌ Ek werk by 'n boek-winkel in die middestad.
Incorrect — ordinary compounds are solid; it is boekwinkel, no hyphen.
✅ Ek werk by 'n boekwinkel in die middestad.
I work at a bookshop in the city centre.
❌ Daar swem 'n seeeend op die dam.
Incorrect — the three e's must be split by a hyphen: see-eend.
✅ Daar swem 'n see-eend op die dam.
A sea duck is swimming on the dam.
❌ Hy kom van die Weskaap af.
Incorrect — a compound with a proper-noun part is hyphenated: Wes-Kaap.
✅ Hy kom van die Wes-Kaap af.
He comes from the Western Cape.
❌ Die kinders hou daarvan om mekaar naaap.
Incorrect — na + aap clashes (aaa), so it is na-aap.
✅ Die kinders hou daarvan om mekaar na te aap.
The children love mimicking each other.
❌ Sy het met die oud-president gesels.
Incorrect — before a common noun the prefix oud- attaches solid: oudpresident (the hyphen only comes before a proper noun, e.g. oud-Hollands).
✅ Sy het met die oudpresident gesels.
She spoke with the former president.
Key takeaways
- The default is solid (boekwinkel, kerkdeur); the hyphen is the marked exception, used only for specific triggers.
- Vowel clash at the seam forces a hyphen (see-eend, na-aap, foto-uitstalling) — this is the diaeresis impulse working at a compound boundary, not an arbitrary rule.
- Proper nouns, abbreviations and single letters take a hyphen: Wes-Kaap, Suid-Afrika, TV-program, A-vlak, U-draai.
- The prefixes oud- (former), eks-, nie-, non- attach solid before a common noun (oudpresident, eksman, nierassig) — they only take a hyphen before a proper noun (nie-Bybels, oud-Hollands); and oud- differs in meaning from the plain adjective ou.
- A clarity hyphen is allowed for genuine ambiguity only; never for ordinary, readable compounds.
- For the underlying vowel rule see diaeresis vs hyphen and diaeresis rules; for compounding in general see compound nouns and linking elements.
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Compound NounsB1 — Afrikaans glues compound nouns into single solid words (huiswerk, slaapkamer), sometimes with a linking -s- or -e- — and the right-most element is always the head, so you read them right to left.
- Spelling with the DiaeresisA2 — The deelteken on ë, ï, ö and ü marks a new syllable where two vowels meet — and you can derive it from morpheme boundaries instead of memorising it.
- Diaeresis vs Hyphen at BoundariesB2 — Two ways to break colliding vowels — the diaeresis inside a word, the hyphen at a compound seam — are really one strategy applied at two different levels.
- Linking Elements in Compounds: -s-, -e-, -er-B2 — The small connecting sounds (tussenklanke) that glue Afrikaans compounds together — -s- in staatsdiens, -e- in hondehok, -er- in kindertehuis, and the bare join in huiswerk — and why they cluster by the type of first element rather than following a clean rule.
- Syllabification and End-of-Line HyphenationB2 — How to split Afrikaans words at the end of a line — break between syllables by the maximal-onset principle, keep digraphs together, divide compounds at their seam, and use the diaeresis instead of a hyphen for vowel hiatus.
- Proper Nouns, Names and TitlesA2 — The grammar of names in Afrikaans — no article with most names, the se-possessive (Sannie se kat), lowercase titles before a name (meneer Botha), surnames with van, and oom and tannie for any older adult.