English loves to leave a preposition dangling at the end of a clause: "the knife I cut with", "the man I spoke to", "what are you writing with?" Linguists call this preposition stranding, and English is one of the few languages on earth that does it comfortably. Afrikaans does not. The ban is effectively absolute: a preposition can never be orphaned at the end of a question or a relative clause. Instead, the preposition travels with the question word or relativiser to the front — a process called pied-piping — and when the thing involved is inanimate, the preposition fuses with waar into a single solid word. Internalise this as a mechanical transformation: every stranded English preposition must become either prep + wie (for people) or a waar-compound (for things).
Why English strands and Afrikaans cannot
When you say "the knife I cut with", the relative pronoun (which/that) and the preposition (with) belong together logically — you cut with which — but English lets them split, parking with at the end. Afrikaans keeps a tighter grip on its prepositions. The preposition cannot be separated from its complement and left hanging, so the whole preposition + relativiser unit moves as a block to the front of the clause. This is not a stylistic preference you can ignore; a stranded preposition in Afrikaans is simply ungrammatical.
Die mes waarmee ek sny, is skerp.
The knife I cut with is sharp.
Die man met wie ek gepraat het, is 'n dokter.
The man I spoke to is a doctor.
Look at what happened. English "the knife I cut with" puts with at the very end. Afrikaans fuses waar + met into waarmee and places it right after the noun. English "the man I spoke to" puts to at the end; Afrikaans keeps met glued to wie as met wie at the front. There is no Afrikaans sentence ending in a dangling met.
Things: the waar-compound
For inanimate referents, Afrikaans welds waar to the preposition into one solid word. The waar element stands in for the thing; the preposition tells you the relationship. This works in both questions and relative clauses.
| Preposition | waar-compound | English |
|---|---|---|
| met (with) | waarmee | with which |
| oor (about/over) | waaroor | about which |
| van (of/from) | waarvan | of which |
| vir (for) | waarvoor | for which |
| op (on) | waarop | on which |
| in (in) | waarin | in which |
| na (to/after) | waarna | to/after which |
In a question, the waar-compound goes to the very front:
Waarmee skryf jy?
What are you writing with?
Waaroor praat julle?
What are you talking about?
Compare the English: "What are you writing with?" strands with at the end. The Afrikaans cannot do that — Wat skryf jy met? is wrong. The whole waarmee leads the question. In a relative clause it sits right after the noun it modifies:
Die pen waarmee ek skryf, is leeg.
The pen I'm writing with is empty.
Die saak waaroor ons gestry het, is nou opgelos.
The matter we argued about is now settled.
For the full inventory and the splitting of these compounds (waar ... mee), see waar-compounds. The headline here is that they exist precisely to make stranding unnecessary.
People: preposition + wie
When the referent is a person, you do not use a waar-compound. You pied-pipe the preposition together with wie ("whom"). The preposition comes first, wie second, and the pair moves to the front of the question or to just after the noun in a relative clause.
Met wie praat jy?
Who are you talking to?
Vir wie het jy die geskenk gekoop?
Who did you buy the gift for?
Die vrou met wie ek werk, is baie bekwaam.
The woman I work with is very competent.
Die man vir wie ek werk, is streng maar regverdig.
The man I work for is strict but fair.
English happily says "who are you talking to?" with to stranded. Afrikaans pulls met up front: met wie. This person-versus-thing split is the one extra wrinkle to remember — people get prep + wie, things get a waar-compound. Note that wie here is the object-of-preposition form; for the subject relativiser you would use wat, covered on relative wat.
In questions: the same rule, fronted
Questions are simply the interrogative face of the same ban. A prepositional question never ends in its preposition; the waar-compound or prep + wie opens the question. This is treated more fully on prepositional questions, but the contrast with English is worth seeing side by side.
Waarvan hou jy?
What do you like? (literally: of what do you hold?)
Waarna soek jy?
What are you looking for?
Oor wie het hulle gepraat?
Who were they talking about?
Every one of these would, in English, end in a stranded preposition ("what do you like", "what are you looking for", "who were they talking about"). Afrikaans front-loads the preposition every time.
Common mistakes
❌ Die mes wat ek mee sny, is skerp.
Incorrect — the preposition mee is stranded; fuse it into waarmee at the front of the clause.
✅ Die mes waarmee ek sny, is skerp.
The knife I cut with is sharp.
❌ Wat skryf jy met?
Incorrect — English-style stranding; the preposition must lead as waarmee.
✅ Waarmee skryf jy?
What are you writing with?
❌ Die man wie ek mee praat, is 'n dokter.
Incorrect — the preposition met is stranded; pied-pipe it: met wie.
✅ Die man met wie ek praat, is 'n dokter.
The man I'm talking to is a doctor.
❌ Die vrou waarmee ek werk, is bekwaam.
Incorrect — a person needs met wie, not a waar-compound.
✅ Die vrou met wie ek werk, is bekwaam.
The woman I work with is competent.
❌ Wie het jy die geskenk voor gekoop?
Incorrect — voor is stranded; pied-pipe the preposition: vir wie.
✅ Vir wie het jy die geskenk gekoop?
Who did you buy the gift for?
Key takeaways
- Afrikaans never strands a preposition; English-style dangling prepositions are ungrammatical.
- The preposition is pied-piped to the front together with its question word or relativiser.
- Things take a solid waar-compound: waarmee, waaroor, waarvoor — see waar-compounds.
- People take preposition + wie: met wie, vir wie, oor wie.
- This applies equally in relative clauses and in prepositional questions; treat every stranded English preposition as a signal to transform.
Now practice Afrikaans
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Pronominal Adverbs: waarmee, hiermee, daarmeeB1 — Afrikaans cannot say 'met dit' or 'oor wat' — it fuses the preposition with hier-, daar- or waar- into one solid word: daarmee, hieroor, waarvan.
- Prepositional Questions: waarmee, waarvan, met wieB1 — How to ask 'with what?', 'about what?', 'for whom?' in Afrikaans — the waar-compounds for things and preposition + wie for people, with no English-style stranding.
- Relative Pronouns: wat, wie, waar-B1 — Afrikaans collapses English who/which/that into the single all-purpose relative pronoun wat — for people and things alike — and handles prepositional relatives with met wie for people and solid waar-compounds for things.
- 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.