Afrikaans capitalisation is mostly intuitive for English speakers, with two genuine surprises: the indefinite article 'n stays lowercase even at the start of a sentence (and hands the capital to the next word), and days, months, languages and nationalities are all capitalised — the latter unlike Dutch, which lowercases nationality adjectives. This page covers when to use a capital; for the apostrophe mechanics of 'n itself see the apostrophe.
Sentence start
A sentence begins with a capital letter, exactly as in English — with one famous exception below. After a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, the next sentence starts with a capital.
Die son skyn vandag. Kom ons gaan strand toe.
The sun is shining today. Let's go to the beach.
Het jy al geëet? Daar is nog kos in die yskas.
Have you eaten yet? There's still food in the fridge.
The lowercase 'n at sentence start
This is the rule English speakers get wrong first. The indefinite article 'n ("a/an") is always lowercase, even when it opens a sentence. Because you can't begin a sentence with a tiny lowercase apostrophe-n and a capital, Afrikaans capitalises the next word instead — the first full word after 'n.
'n Man het by die deur gestaan.
A man was standing at the door.
'n Mooi dag, nê?
A lovely day, isn't it?
'n Hond het die hele nag geblaf.
A dog barked all night.
So the pattern at a sentence start is: lowercase 'n, then a Capital on the following word — 'n Man, 'n Mooi, 'n Hond. Mid-sentence, 'n is simply lowercase like any other small word and nothing special happens: Daar staan 'n man. This convention exists because 'n is treated as too slight to carry the sentence's opening capital, so the duty passes to the next word.
Proper nouns
Names of people, places, organisations, brands, books and the like take a capital, just as in English. The full grammar of proper nouns lives on proper nouns, names and titles; here it's enough to know they're capitalised.
Sannie en Pieter woon in Kaapstad.
Sannie and Pieter live in Cape Town.
Ek het die boek by Exclusive Books gekoop.
I bought the book at Exclusive Books.
Languages and nationalities are capitalised
Here is the rule that separates Afrikaans from Dutch. Language names and nationality words are capitalised in Afrikaans — Afrikaans, Engels, Frans, Duits, and the nationality/origin words Suid-Afrikaans, Nederlands, Amerikaans. This holds mid-sentence, not only at the start.
Sy praat Afrikaans en Engels.
She speaks Afrikaans and English.
Hy is Suid-Afrikaans, maar sy ouma was Nederlands.
He is South African, but his grandmother was Dutch.
Ons leer Frans op skool.
We learn French at school.
This is exactly the place where Dutch differs. Dutch capitalises the noun for a language and a nationality (het Engels, een Engelsman) but lowercases the adjective of nationality: Dutch writes de Engelse taal, een Zuid-Afrikaanse wijn with a lowercase adjective. Afrikaans does not make that split — it capitalises the nationality word whether it functions as noun or modifier: 'n Engelse boek, Suid-Afrikaanse wyn. For an English speaker the Afrikaans rule is the easy one, because English also capitalises English, French, South African. The trap is only for those coming from Dutch.
Dit is 'n Engelse boek met 'n Suid-Afrikaanse skrywer.
This is an English book with a South African author.
Days and months are capitalised
Afrikaans capitalises the days of the week and the months of the year, like English and unlike the lowercase convention of some languages.
| Days | Months |
|---|---|
| Maandag, Dinsdag, Woensdag | Januarie, Februarie, Maart |
| Donderdag, Vrydag | April, Mei, Junie, Julie |
| Saterdag, Sondag | Augustus, September, Oktober, November, Desember |
Ons vergader elke Maandag in Januarie.
We meet every Monday in January.
My verjaarsdag is op 'n Vrydag in Desember.
My birthday is on a Friday in December.
The seasons, by contrast, are lowercase: lente, somer, herfs, winter (spring, summer, autumn, winter) — like English, which also keeps seasons lowercase.
In die somer is dit warm; in die winter reën dit.
In summer it's hot; in winter it rains.
Polite U for God and in formal letters
The polite second-person pronoun is normally lowercase u (you), but it is conventionally capitalised as U when addressing God (in prayer, hymns and religious writing) and, in older or very formal letter-writing style, when addressing the reader with marked deference. This is a respect-marking capital, not a grammatical requirement. In ordinary modern correspondence lowercase u is standard; the capital U signals heightened formality or reverence. See the formal pronoun u.
Here, ons dank U vir hierdie dag.
Lord, we thank You for this day. (reverential capital U)
Ons vra dat u die vorm voor Vrydag inhandig.
We ask that you submit the form before Friday. (ordinary lowercase u)
Titles before names
Titles such as meneer, mevrou, dokter are written lowercase when they appear mid-sentence before a name (meneer Botha, dokter Naidoo) — capitalise them only at the start of a sentence. Their abbreviations, however, are capitalised: mnr. (mister), mev. (mrs), dr. (doctor). The detail belongs on proper nouns, names and titles, but note the contrast in passing.
Goeiemôre, meneer Botha — dokter Naidoo wag vir u.
Good morning, Mr Botha — Doctor Naidoo is waiting for you.
Common mistakes
❌ 'N Man het by die deur gestaan.
Incorrect — 'n stays lowercase; the capital goes on the next word.
✅ 'n Man het by die deur gestaan.
A man was standing at the door.
❌ Sy praat afrikaans en engels.
Incorrect — language names are capitalised mid-sentence.
✅ Sy praat Afrikaans en Engels.
She speaks Afrikaans and English.
❌ Ons vergader elke maandag in januarie.
Incorrect — days and months are capitalised.
✅ Ons vergader elke Maandag in Januarie.
We meet every Monday in January.
❌ 'n suid-afrikaanse skrywer.
Incorrect — nationality words are capitalised in Afrikaans (unlike Dutch).
✅ 'n Suid-Afrikaanse skrywer.
A South African author. (sentence-initial, so capital on Suid)
❌ In die Somer is dit warm.
Incorrect — seasons are lowercase.
✅ In die somer is dit warm.
In summer it's hot.
Key takeaways
- Sentences start with a capital — except that 'n stays lowercase and hands the capital to the next word: 'n Man, 'n Goeie idee.
- Proper nouns are capitalised (see proper nouns).
- Languages and nationalities are capitalised everywhere — Afrikaans, Engels, Suid-Afrikaans — matching English but differing from Dutch, which lowercases nationality adjectives.
- Days and months are capitalised (Maandag, Januarie); seasons are lowercase (somer, winter).
- Polite u is lowercase normally but capitalised U for God and in markedly formal letters; titles are lowercase mid-sentence (meneer Botha) but their abbreviations are capitalised (mnr.).
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- The Apostrophe: 'n and Clipped FormsA1 — Every use of the Afrikaans apostrophe — the article 'n, sentence-initial capitalisation, clipped forms like dis, and foreign-stem diminutives.
- The Formal Pronoun uA2 — The polite second-person pronoun u — when to use it instead of jy, why it triggers no special verb form, and how it differs from French vous or German Sie.
- 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.
- Afrikaans Spelling: OverviewA1 — A map of the Afrikaans orthographic system — its diacritics, vowel doubling, and homophone traps — and where each rule lives.
- Punctuation and QuotationB1 — Afrikaans punctuation where it differs from English — the decimal comma, quotation marks, the colon and dash, and commas around subordinate clauses.