Some idioms are worth memorising for the grammar alone, and die aap uit die mou laat is one of them. On the surface it is a vivid, slightly absurd image — to let the monkey out of the sleeve — and underneath it is a compact, repeatable lesson in two of Afrikaans's most useful constructions: the causative laat and a directional "out of X" phrase, both squeezed into one fixed saying. This page presents the proverb, glosses it word by word, and then unpacks the grammar so that the same patterns become available to you in sentences you build yourself. The proverb is traditional and public-domain, attested in the standard idiom collections.
The proverb
Hy het toe die aap uit die mou gelaat.
Then he let the cat out of the bag (revealed the secret).
Literally: "he then let the monkey out of the sleeve." Figuratively: he gave away the secret — said the thing that was supposed to stay hidden, whether on purpose or by accident. It is the close cousin of the English let the cat out of the bag or spill the beans. The image is old: a hidden animal up a sleeve, suddenly released into plain view. Once it is out, it cannot go back in — which is exactly the point about a revealed secret.
Word by word
| Afrikaans | Literal | Function |
|---|---|---|
| die aap | the monkey | definite object — "the secret" in disguise |
| uit | out (of) | directional preposition |
| die mou | the sleeve | the place it comes out of |
| laat | let / cause | causative verb governing the whole clause |
Two small choices in this gloss are worth pausing on. First, the object is die aap, with the definite article die ("the"), not 'n aap ("a monkey"). The proverb treats the secret as a specific, known thing — the monkey, the one everybody half-suspected was up there. Second, die mou ("the sleeve") is likewise definite. The saying assumes a shared mental scene, and definite articles are how it points at the props in that scene.
The grammar engine: causative laat
The heart of the proverb is laat. Here it is not the everyday "to leave" but the causative laat: "to let / to allow / to make (something happen)." It takes an object and tells you what becomes of it — you cause the monkey to be out of the sleeve. English needs a helper here too ("let the cat out"), and Afrikaans uses laat the same way: laat val (let fall, drop), laat staan (leave standing, let be), laat weet (let know, inform).
Moenie die geheim uit nie — hou dit vir jouself.
Don't give the secret away — keep it to yourself.
Sy het per ongeluk die aap uit die mou gelaat oor die verrassingspartytjie.
She accidentally let the cat out of the bag about the surprise party.
A point that trips up English and Dutch speakers alike: laat is not a separable verb here, and uit is not a particle that prefixes onto it. There is no verb uitlaat doing the work in this idiom. Instead, laat is the main verb, and uit die mou is a self-standing directional phrase describing where the monkey goes. So in the perfect tense the participle is plain gelaat (het ... gelaat), and the whole directional phrase uit die mou simply sits in front of it. You do not get uitgelaat in this saying. For the full behaviour of causative laat, see the causative laat.
Toe almal stil was, het hy uiteindelik die aap uit die mou gelaat.
When everyone was quiet, he finally let the cat out of the bag.
The directional phrase: uit die mou
The phrase uit die mou — "out of the sleeve" — is a directional prepositional phrase: it answers where to?, not where at? The monkey is moving from inside the sleeve to outside it. Afrikaans marks this kind of motion-out-of with uit placed before the noun phrase, exactly as English does with "out of." It belongs to the same family as the toe directionals ("to(wards)") covered under direction with toe — both are about movement with a goal, here the goal being "into the open."
Because uit die mou is a unit of meaning, it travels together and lands as a block in front of the clause-final verb. That clause-final position for the verb (or, in the perfect, the participle) is the normal Afrikaans pattern once a helper verb like het is in play: everything else lines up, and the lexical verb goes last.
Hy laat die aap uit die mou voor almal.
He lets the cat out of the bag in front of everyone.
Pasop wat jy sê — moenie die aap uit die mou laat nie.
Watch what you say — don't let the cat out of the bag.
When you would actually say it
Native speakers reach for this idiom whenever a hidden truth slips into the open — a leaked plan, a spoiled surprise, an admission that gives the game away. It carries a faint flavour of "oops, now it's out," so it fits a confession or a slip more naturally than a grand public announcement.
Die joernalis het die aap uit die mou gelaat oor die nuwe minister.
The journalist let the cat out of the bag about the new minister.
Niemand wou iets sê nie, totdat die kind die aap uit die mou gelaat het.
Nobody wanted to say anything, until the child let the cat out of the bag.
Common mistakes
❌ He let a monkey out of his shirt-sleeve. (reading it literally)
Incorrect — it's an idiom: it means to reveal a secret, not anything to do with monkeys or sleeves.
✅ Die aap uit die mou laat = to let the cat out of the bag.
To reveal / give away a secret.
❌ Hy het die aap uit die mou uitgelaat.
Incorrect — laat is the main verb here, not a separable uitlaat; the participle is plain gelaat.
✅ Hy het die aap uit die mou gelaat.
He let the cat out of the bag.
❌ Hy het gelaat die aap uit die mou.
Incorrect — with het, the participle goes to the end: ... uit die mou gelaat.
✅ Hy het die aap uit die mou gelaat.
He let the cat out of the bag.
❌ Hy het 'n aap uit 'n mou gelaat.
Incorrect — the fixed proverb uses the definite die ... die, not the indefinite 'n ... 'n.
✅ Hy het die aap uit die mou gelaat.
He let the cat out of the bag.
Key takeaways
- Die aap uit die mou laat literally "let the monkey out of the sleeve," figuratively let the cat out of the bag — reveal or give away a secret.
- It is a traditional, public-domain idiom; the meaning is one step from the literal picture of a hidden animal released into the open.
- The verb is the causative laat ("let / cause"); uit is not a separable particle here, so the perfect participle is plain gelaat, never uitgelaat.
- Uit die mou is a directional "out of" phrase — motion from inside to outside — that lands as a block before the clause-final verb.
- The articles are definite (die aap, die mou): the proverb points at a shared mental scene, so don't swap them for 'n.
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Afrikaans Proverbs: OverviewB1 — An orientation to Afrikaans spreekwoorde — their agrarian imagery, their shared roots with Dutch, and how they compress distinctive grammar into memorable form.
- The Causative: laatB1 — The verb laat takes a bare infinitive to express letting, making or having someone do something — one Afrikaans verb covering English 'let', 'make' and 'have done'.
- Direction: na, toe, uit, deurA2 — How Afrikaans marks movement toward and away from a place — the distinctive postposition toe (huis toe), the preposition na, and the source markers uit and van … af.