bly is a small word with a surprisingly wide reach. Its core meaning is to stay or to remain, but in everyday South African Afrikaans it has taken on a third, very common sense — to live / reside. Waar bly jy? is the normal, idiomatic way to ask where someone lives. It also works as a copula of staying in a state — bly kalm (stay calm). This page covers its forms and all three senses; for bly as a linking verb see copular verbs.
Core forms
bly is regular in its endings. The form to lock in is the perfect: het gebly — with het, never is.
| Form | Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | bly | to stay / remain |
| Present (all persons) | ek / jy / hy / ons / hulle bly | I / you / he / we / they stay |
| Perfect | het gebly | stayed / remained |
| Future | sal bly | will stay |
| Imperative | Bly! | Stay! |
Bly net hier, ek is nou-nou terug.
Just stay here, I'll be right back.
Ons het die hele naweek by die see gebly.
We stayed at the seaside the whole weekend.
Sal jy vanaand by ons bly vir ete?
Will you stay with us for dinner tonight?
bly = "stay / remain in a place"
The most basic sense is physical: to stay put, to remain somewhere, not to leave. This is bly of position and of duration.
Bly asseblief in die ry totdat die bus stop.
Please stay in line until the bus stops.
Die kinders het by hul ouma oorgebly.
The children stayed over at their grandma's.
Hoe lank gaan julle in Kaapstad bly?
How long are you going to stay in Cape Town?
bly = "remain (in a state)" — as a copula
bly also links a subject to a state it continues to be in — it is the verb of remaining calm, staying friends, keeping quiet. Used this way it is a copula, like is, word and lyk, but with the special meaning "go on being". This is one of its most useful patterns and a frequent everyday command.
| Phrase | English |
|---|---|
| bly kalm | stay calm |
| bly stil | keep quiet / stay still |
| bly gesond | stay healthy |
| bly vriende | stay friends |
| bly wakker | stay awake |
Bly kalm — daar is niks om oor bekommerd te wees nie.
Stay calm — there's nothing to worry about.
Ons het vriende gebly, selfs na die skool.
We stayed friends, even after school.
Probeer wakker bly, ons is amper daar.
Try to stay awake, we're almost there.
For the wider family of linking verbs that bly belongs to, see copular verbs.
bly = "live / reside" — the South African sense
Here is the one English speakers must learn deliberately, because no English instinct points to it: in everyday South African Afrikaans, bly routinely means to live / reside. The standard, neutral way to ask where someone lives is Waar bly jy? — not, primarily, Waar woon jy? While woon exists and is the strictly "correct" formal verb for residing, in ordinary speech bly dominates this meaning across most of the country.
Waar bly jy deesdae?
Where do you live these days?
Ek bly in 'n klein dorpie naby Stellenbosch.
I live in a small town near Stellenbosch.
Hulle bly al twintig jaar in dieselfde huis.
They've lived in the same house for twenty years.
bly + infinitive: "keep on doing"
bly combines with a bare infinitive to express continuing or repeated action — "keep on …ing". The second verb stays in its plain form: hy bly praat (he keeps talking), sy bly vra (she keeps asking).
Hy bly praat al sê ek niks terug nie.
He keeps talking even though I say nothing back.
My foon bly lui — wie probeer my bel?
My phone keeps ringing — who's trying to call me?
Common mistakes
❌ Ons is die hele naweek by die see gebly.
Incorrect — the perfect of bly takes het, not is: het gebly.
✅ Ons het die hele naweek by die see gebly.
We stayed at the seaside the whole weekend.
❌ Waar woon jy? (when chatting casually with a friend)
Understandable, but in everyday South African speech the natural question is Waar bly jy?
✅ Waar bly jy?
Where do you live?
❌ Blyte stil, die baba slaap.
Incorrect — there is no -te past; the present imperative is simply bly.
✅ Bly stil, die baba slaap.
Keep quiet, the baby is sleeping.
❌ Hy bly om te praat al sê ek niks nie.
Incorrect — bly + infinitive takes no om te; the verb stays bare: bly praat.
✅ Hy bly praat al sê ek niks nie.
He keeps talking even though I say nothing.
Key takeaways
- bly covers stay, remain, and (in South African Afrikaans) live/reside. Forms: present bly, perfect het gebly, future sal bly.
- The perfect is het gebly, never is gebly — a key correction for Dutch speakers; see het vs is.
- As a copula it means remain in a state: bly kalm, bly stil, bly vriende — see copular verbs.
- Waar bly jy? is the everyday way to ask where someone lives — the sense English speakers most often miss.
- bly + bare infinitive = keep on doing: hy bly praat, with no om te.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Copular Verbs: wees, word, lyk, blyA2 — The linking verbs that join a subject to a predicate — is/wees, word, lyk, bly and voel — and why the complement stays bare.
- Choosing the Perfect Auxiliary: hetB1 — Afrikaans uses het as the perfect auxiliary for every active verb — there is no hebben/zijn or haben/sein split — and the only is + participle you ever meet is the passive, not an active perfect.