When a question involves a preposition — "What are you writing with?", "Who are you talking to?" — English typically leaves the preposition dangling at the end. Afrikaans refuses to do this. Instead it splits the world cleanly in two: for things, the preposition fuses onto waar- to make a single word (waarmee, waaroor, waarvan); for people, the preposition simply comes first, in front of wie (met wie, vir wie, aan wie). Once you see this thing-vs-person split, these questions become mechanical.
The core rule: thing vs person
This one distinction governs everything on the page:
| Asking about a… | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| thing | waar + preposition (one word) | waarmee = with what |
| person | preposition + wie | met wie = with whom |
So the same preposition met surfaces two ways depending on what you are asking about: waarmee (with what) for things, met wie (with whom) for people.
Waarmee skryf jy?
What are you writing with?
Met wie praat jy?
Who are you talking to? (lit. with whom)
Things: the waar-compounds
For inanimate things, you build a single fused word: waar- plus the preposition. The most common ones:
| Compound | From | English |
|---|---|---|
| waarmee | waar + met | with what |
| waaroor | waar + oor | about what |
| waarvan | waar + van | of/from what |
| waarin | waar + in | in what |
| waarop | waar + op | on what |
| waaraan | waar + aan | on/at what (e.g. thinking of) |
| waarvoor | waar + voor | for what, why |
| waardeur | waar + deur | through/by what |
Note the spelling join: when the preposition starts with a vowel (oor, in, op, aan), the r of waar simply meets it — waaroor, waarin, waarop, waaraan. These are written solid, as one word, never waar oor or waar-oor.
Waaroor gaan dit?
What's it about?
Waarvan praat jy?
What are you talking about?
Waarin is jy geïnteresseerd?
What are you interested in?
Waarmee help ek jou?
What can I help you with?
People: preposition + wie
For people, you do not fuse anything. You put the preposition first and follow it with wie ("whom"):
| Phrase | English |
|---|---|
| met wie | with whom |
| vir wie | for whom / to whom |
| aan wie | to whom |
| van wie | of/from whom, whose |
| by wie | at whose place, with whom |
| oor wie | about whom |
Vir wie koop jy dit?
Who are you buying it for?
Aan wie behoort dit?
Who does this belong to?
Van wie het jy dit gehoor?
Who did you hear that from?
By wie bly jy?
Whose place are you staying at?
The verb still comes in second position, right after the question phrase, exactly as in other wh-questions — see wh-questions. The whole preposition phrase (met wie, vir wie) counts as the single fronted element, so the verb follows it and the subject comes third: Met wie praat jy? — phrase, verb, subject.
Word order: the phrase fronts as a unit
Whether you build a waar-*compound or a *preposition + wie phrase, that whole chunk moves to the front of the question together, and nothing splits it. This is the deeper reason Afrikaans cannot strand: the preposition is part of the fronted question phrase, so it physically cannot stay behind at the end.
Waarop sit die kat?
What is the cat sitting on?
Oor wie praat hulle so?
Who are they talking about like that?
In each, the bracketed phrase (waarop, oor wie) leads, the finite verb follows, and the subject trails — a single, predictable shape you can reuse for every prepositional question.
Why no stranding?
English lets the preposition float to the end of the clause ("Who are you talking to?"), a pattern called stranding. Afrikaans does not do this in questions: the preposition must stay attached — either welded onto waar (things) or standing in front of wie (people). Trying to strand it produces something a native speaker simply will not say.
Met wie het jy gepraat?
Who did you speak to?
Waarvoor is hierdie knoppie?
What's this button for?
This is one place where Afrikaans is tidier than English: there is exactly one correct slot for the preposition, and the thing/person split tells you which form to reach for.
A note on register
In careful or formal Afrikaans the rules above hold firmly. In very casual speech you may occasionally hear wat … met drifting toward an English-like pattern under heavy English influence, but this is non-standard and best avoided in writing. For relative clauses — "the pen I write with" — the same waar- compounds reappear, but that is a separate structure covered under relative wat; don't confuse a question (waarmee?) with a relative (waarmee ek skryf).
Common mistakes
❌ Wie praat jy met?
Incorrect — English-style stranding. Put the preposition first: met wie.
✅ Met wie praat jy?
Who are you talking to?
❌ Wat skryf jy mee?
Incorrect — for a thing, fuse the preposition onto waar: waarmee.
✅ Waarmee skryf jy?
What are you writing with?
❌ Waarmee praat jy? (meaning: with which person)
Incorrect — waarmee is for things; for a person use met wie.
✅ Met wie praat jy?
Who are you talking to?
❌ Waar oor gaan dit?
Incorrect — the compound is written solid, as one word: waaroor.
✅ Waaroor gaan dit?
What's it about?
❌ Vir wie is dit voor?
Incorrect — don't double the preposition; vir wie already carries it.
✅ Vir wie is dit?
Who's it for?
Key takeaways
- The master rule: things → waar + preposition (one word); people → preposition + wie.
- Common thing-compounds: waarmee, waaroor, waarvan, waarin, waarop, waaraan, waarvoor — always written solid.
- Common person-phrases: met wie, vir wie, aan wie, van wie, by wie, oor wie.
- Afrikaans never strands the preposition at the end the way English does.
- Word order stays verb-second, just like other wh-questions; the waar- compounds reappear in relative clauses, and the building blocks are listed under waar-compounds.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Question Words: wie, wat, waar, wanneer, hoekom, hoeA1 — How to ask open questions in Afrikaans with wie, wat, waar, wanneer, hoekom/waarom, hoe, watter and hoeveel — question word first, verb second, no 'do'.
- 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.
- 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.