Every language splits its nouns into things you can count one-by-one (a book, two books) and stuff you can only measure (water, money). Afrikaans makes the same cut, but it draws the boundary at slightly different places than English and — most importantly — it builds its measure phrases without the word "of". Two glasses of wine is twee glase wyn, three words, no van in sight. Getting this right is the difference between sounding fluent and sounding like you are translating word for word. This page covers count versus mass nouns, the measure-phrase construction, and the quantifiers that go with each.
Count nouns: take 'n and pluralise
A count noun names something you can count as separate units. It takes the indefinite article 'n ("a/an") in the singular, and it has a plural in -e or -s.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 'n boek | boeke | a book / books |
| 'n appel | appels | an apple / apples |
| 'n stoel | stoele | a chair / chairs |
| 'n koppie | koppies | a cup / cups |
Ek het 'n boek en twee appels gekoop.
I bought a book and two apples.
Daar staan vier stoele om die tafel.
There are four chairs around the table.
If you can put a number in front of it and add a plural ending, it is a count noun. See forming plurals and cardinal numbers.
Mass nouns: no 'n, no plural
A mass noun names a substance, material, or abstraction with no natural units: water, melk (milk), geld (money), brood (bread), suiker (sugar), koffie, liefde (love). In its substance sense a mass noun does not take 'n and has no plural — you cannot count it directly.
Daar is nie meer melk in die yskas nie.
There's no more milk in the fridge.
Ek het nie genoeg geld vir die kaartjie nie.
I don't have enough money for the ticket.
Sit nog suiker in my koffie, asseblief.
Put more sugar in my coffee, please.
Notice there is no 'n before melk, geld, suiker, koffie in these sentences, and none of them is pluralised. Melk names the stuff itself; 'n melk and melke are not how you talk about milk as a substance.
The count/mass line can shift
A few nouns sit on both sides depending on meaning. In a coffee shop you might hear twee koffies ("two coffees") — but that is shorthand for two cups/servings of coffee, the noun temporarily recruited as a count noun for portions. In its plain substance sense (koffie is duur — coffee is expensive) it stays mass. English does exactly the same trick ("two coffees, please"), so this overlap will feel familiar. The default, though, is mass: reach for a measure phrase unless you specifically mean servings.
Measure phrases: the construction
To put a quantity to a mass noun, Afrikaans uses a measure phrase: a measure noun (a unit or container) followed directly by the mass noun. The structure is:
[number] [measure noun] [mass noun] — for example twee glase wyn.
Here is the rule that trips up English speakers, and the single most important point on this page: there is no "of". English glues the measure and the substance together with of — a glass *of wine, two cups **of tea. Afrikaans simply puts them side by side. You do *not insert van.
| Afrikaans | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 'n glas water | a glass of water | no van |
| twee koppies tee | two cups of tea | measure pluralises, mass stays singular |
| 'n stuk koek | a piece of cake | no van |
| 'n bietjie melk | a bit of milk | no van |
| drie sakke meel | three bags of flour | measure pluralises |
Kan ek 'n glas water kry, asseblief?
Can I have a glass of water, please?
Sy het twee koppies tee gemaak.
She made two cups of tea.
Hy het 'n groot stuk koek gevat.
He took a big piece of cake.
The measure noun pluralises; the mass noun stays singular
In a measure phrase, only the measure noun changes for number. The mass noun stays singular because it is still naming one undivided substance — you have more glasses, but it is all the same wine.
| Singular measure | Plural measure | Mass noun: unchanged |
|---|---|---|
| 'n glas wyn | twee glase wyn | wyn (not "wyne") |
| 'n koppie koffie | drie koppies koffie | koffie |
| 'n stuk brood | vier stukke brood | brood |
| 'n sak meel | twee sakke meel | meel |
Ons het vier stukke brood en 'n bietjie kaas oorgehad.
We had four pieces of bread and a bit of cheese left over.
This mirrors the English logic ("two glasses of wine" — glasses plural, wine singular), so the only thing to unlearn is the of.
Quantifiers: 'n bietjie, 'n paar, baie
Some quantifiers select for mass nouns, some for count nouns, and one works with both. Choosing the wrong one is a classic learner slip.
'n bietjie ("a bit / a little") goes with mass nouns — small amounts of uncountable stuff.
Gee my 'n bietjie melk in my tee.
Give me a little milk in my tea.
Daar is nog 'n bietjie geld oor.
There's still a bit of money left.
'n paar ("a few / a couple") goes with count nouns — a small number of separate things. (Note: 'n paar takes the plural noun.)
Koop asseblief 'n paar eiers by die winkel.
Please buy a few eggs at the shop.
Ek het net 'n paar minute oor.
I only have a few minutes left.
baie ("much / many / a lot of") is the flexible one — it works with both. With a mass noun it means "much"; with a count noun (plural) it means "many".
Hulle het baie geld aan die troue spandeer.
They spent a lot of money on the wedding.
Daar is baie water in die dam ná die reën.
There's a lot of water in the dam after the rain.
Baie mense het na die fees gegaan.
Many people went to the festival.
| Quantifier | Goes with | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 'n bietjie | mass only | 'n bietjie water |
| 'n paar | count only (plural) | 'n paar eiers |
| baie | both | baie water / baie mense |
Note the spelling of bietjie: it carries the diminutive -tjie ending. There are no other diacritics in these words.
Common mistakes
❌ Ek wil twee waters bestel.
Incorrect — water is a mass noun and has no plural; measure it instead.
✅ Ek wil twee glase water bestel.
I want to order two glasses of water.
❌ twee glase van wyn
Incorrect — Afrikaans measure phrases take no 'of' (van).
✅ twee glase wyn
two glasses of wine.
❌ Gee my 'n bietjie eiers.
Incorrect — 'n bietjie is for mass nouns; eggs are countable, so use 'n paar.
✅ Gee my 'n paar eiers.
Give me a few eggs.
❌ Sy het twee koppies koffies gemaak.
Incorrect — in a measure phrase the mass noun stays singular; only the measure pluralises.
✅ Sy het twee koppies koffie gemaak.
She made two cups of coffee.
❌ Ek het nie 'n geld nie.
Incorrect — geld is mass and takes no 'n; say nie geld nie or nie genoeg geld nie.
✅ Ek het nie genoeg geld nie.
I don't have enough money.
Key takeaways
- Count nouns take 'n and pluralise ('n boek → boeke); mass nouns (water, melk, geld, brood) take no 'n in the substance sense and have no plural.
- Quantify a mass noun with a measure phrase: [number] [measure noun] [mass noun] — twee glase wyn, 'n stuk koek.
- Crucially, there is no "of" in the construction: twee glase wyn, never twee glase van wyn.
- The measure noun pluralises; the mass noun stays singular (drie koppies koffie).
- Use 'n bietjie with mass nouns, 'n paar with count nouns, and baie with both. See quantifiers.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Cardinal NumbersA1 — Afrikaans cardinal numbers 0 to a million, built on one mechanical pattern: for 21 to 99 the unit comes before the ten, joined by en — een-en-twintig (21).
- The Diminutive System: OverviewA1 — An introduction to the Afrikaans diminutive — the hugely productive -ie suffix family that conveys smallness, affection and softening, and is everyday adult speech.
- Collective and Uncountable NounsB2 — Afrikaans collective nouns are firmly singular — die span speel, die polisie soek — and uncountables like inligting never take a plural -s.
- Quantifying Countable and Uncountable NounsA2 — How to choose the right quantifier — 'n paar, 'n bietjie, baie, min — depending on whether the noun can be counted, and what shape the noun takes afterwards.
- Forming Plurals: -e and -sA1 — How Afrikaans builds most plurals with the endings -e and -s, and how to choose between them.