Once you leave the world of where things are, prepositions stop being logical and start being idiomatic. You cannot reason your way from "physically on" to "op grond van die feite" (on the grounds of the facts) — the spatial meaning has been stretched into an abstract one along a path that each language took differently. Worse, English took a different path for most of them, so literal translation reliably fails. This page treats abstract prepositions for what they really are: fixed chunks you memorise, with a special focus on the compound prepositions (ten opsigte van, met betrekking tot) that instantly mark formal, written, elevated Afrikaans.
Why abstract prepositions cannot be translated literally
A preposition's spatial sense is usually concrete and shared across languages: in a box is in 'n boks in any sensible language. But every preposition also has a bundle of metaphorical senses — danger, pressure, doubt, basis, reference — and those senses were assigned centuries ago by historical accident, not logic. English "in love" and Afrikaans op in some idioms, English "under pressure" and Afrikaans onder druk: sometimes they match, often they don't, and there is no rule that predicts which.
Die spesie is in gevaar.
The species is in danger.
Hy is onder groot druk by die werk.
He's under a lot of pressure at work.
Sy het dit met moeite reggekry.
She managed it with difficulty.
In these three, English happens to agree (in danger, under pressure, with difficulty), which lulls learners into trusting word-for-word translation. The mismatches come without warning, so the only safe strategy is to treat each phrase as a single vocabulary item — a chunk — and never to build one from its parts.
A working set of abstract phrases
These are high-frequency abstract phrases worth learning as chunks. The English gloss is given for the whole phrase, not the preposition.
| Afrikaans | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| in gevaar | in danger | matches English |
| onder druk | under pressure | matches English |
| met moeite | with difficulty | matches English |
| sonder twyfel | without doubt | matches English |
| uit vrees (dat) | out of fear (that) | uit = 'out of' a motive |
| in beheer (van) | in control (of) | matches English |
| op grond van | on the grounds of / based on | compound, formal |
| met betrekking tot | with regard to / regarding | compound, formal |
| ten opsigte van | with respect to / in respect of | compound, very formal |
| na aanleiding van | following on from / in response to | compound, formal |
Sonder twyfel is dit die beste keuse.
Without doubt this is the best choice.
Hy het uit vrees vir sy lewe gevlug.
He fled out of fear for his life.
Wie is in beheer van die projek?
Who's in control of the project?
Note uit in uit vrees: spatially uit means "out of," but here it marks a motive — the fear is the source the action springs from. English uses the same metaphor ("out of fear"), which is a lucky match; do not assume the next one will be.
Compound prepositions: the formal-register resource
Afrikaans, like Dutch, builds multi-word compound prepositions that frame an abstract relationship: op grond van, met betrekking tot, ten opsigte van, na aanleiding van. These are not casual. They belong to formal letters, reports, contracts, academic prose, and officialdom. Dropping one into ordinary conversation sounds stiff and bureaucratic — but dropping one into a business email or an essay is exactly right, and learners who can deploy them sound markedly more educated and precise.
Op grond van die feite het die hof die saak van die hand gewys.
On the grounds of the facts, the court dismissed the case.
Met betrekking tot jou brief van 3 Junie, wil ek die volgende meld.
With regard to your letter of 3 June, I wish to note the following.
Ten opsigte van begroting is daar nog onsekerheid.
With respect to the budget, there is still uncertainty.
Na aanleiding van die klagte het ons 'n ondersoek begin.
Following on from the complaint, we launched an investigation.
These compounds typically front the clause, setting up the topic before the main statement — which then inverts under the V2 rule, as you can see in the court example (het die hof after the fronted phrase). They are a signature feature of formal and academic writing and a hallmark of academic conventions.
The plain spoken alternatives
For balance, here is what the same abstract relationships look like in everyday register. Knowing both lets you switch deliberately rather than by accident.
| Formal compound | Everyday equivalent | English |
|---|---|---|
| met betrekking tot | oor / wat ... betref | about / as for |
| ten opsigte van | oor / met | regarding / with |
| op grond van | omdat / weens | because of |
| na aanleiding van | ná / oor | after / about |
Wat die begroting betref, is ek nie seker nie.
As far as the budget's concerned, I'm not sure.
Hy't sy werk verloor weens die besnoeiings.
He lost his job because of the cuts.
The second sentence shows the everyday weens (because of) standing in for the more formal op grond van / vanweë. Both are correct; they simply pitch the sentence at different registers.
Common mistakes
❌ Sy is in liefde met hom.
Incorrect — a calque of English 'in love with'; Afrikaans uses the verb 'verlief wees op'.
✅ Sy is verlief op hom.
She's in love with him.
❌ met betrekking aan jou brief
Incorrect — the compound is fixed as 'met betrekking tot', not 'aan'; you cannot swap the inner preposition.
✅ met betrekking tot jou brief
with regard to your letter
❌ Ek het dit met moeilik gedoen.
Incorrect — the chunk is 'met moeite' (a noun), not 'met' plus the adjective 'moeilik'.
✅ Ek het dit met moeite gedoen.
I did it with difficulty.
❌ Hy het uit van vrees gevlug.
Incorrect — the motive phrase is simply 'uit vrees'; no extra 'van' is inserted.
✅ Hy het uit vrees gevlug.
He fled out of fear.
❌ Ten opsigte aan die begroting is daar onsekerheid.
Incorrect — the compound is 'ten opsigte VAN', a frozen unit; 'aan' is wrong.
✅ Ten opsigte van die begroting is daar onsekerheid.
With respect to the budget, there's uncertainty.
Key takeaways
- Abstract prepositional phrases are idiomatic chunks, not buildable from spatial logic — learn each as a unit.
- English and Afrikaans sometimes agree (in gevaar, onder druk) and often don't; never trust a literal translation.
- Compound prepositions — op grond van, met betrekking tot, ten opsigte van, na aanleiding van — are a deliberate formal-register resource for formal writing and academic prose.
- The inner words of a compound are frozen: it is met betrekking tot, never ...aan.
- In speech, swap the compounds for plain oor, weens, or wat ... betref to avoid sounding bureaucratic; see the wider fixed phrases and prepositions overview.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Fixed Prepositional PhrasesB1 — Set phrases like op pad, te koop, in die geheim and aan die brand, where the preposition is idiomatic, the article is often dropped, and the whole phrase must be learned as a unit.
- Formal and Academic WritingC1 — Formal written Afrikaans has its own toolkit — the pronoun u, full uncontracted forms, the passive, nominal style, a closed set of high-register connectors like derhalwe and ten einde, and fixed letter formulas such as Geagte and Die uwe.
- Afrikaans Prepositions: OverviewA1 — A map of the Afrikaans preposition system — invariant little words, many cognate with English, plus the destination postposition 'toe' and circumpositions English lacks.
- Academic Writing ConventionsC1 — The grammar that marks a text as academic Afrikaans — the impersonal daar word passive, hedged claims, nominalisation, the closed set of formal connectors, and the conventions of citation and objective tone.