A copular (linking) verb does not describe an action — it joins a subject to a description of what it is, becomes, stays, or seems. The reason to learn these verbs as one group is that they all share a single, powerful frame: the adjective that follows them takes no -e ending. After is, word, bly, lyk, voel, skyn and raak, the adjective stays in its bare predicative form — is moeg, word koud, bly kalm — never is moeie or word koue. Recognise the class and you will never over-inflect the predicate again, whichever copula you pick. This page aggregates the group; the predicative-adjective rule itself is explained on predicative adjectives.
The reference table
| Verb | Meaning | Predicate example | Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| wees (is) | be | is moeg | het … gewees / was |
| word | become / get | word koud | het … geword |
| bly | stay / remain | bly kalm | het … gebly |
| lyk | look / seem | lyk reg | het … gelyk |
| voel | feel | voel siek | het … gevoel |
| skyn | appear / seem | skyn waar (te wees) | het … geskyn |
| raak | get / become | raak warm | het … geraak |
Every predicate in that table is bare. The single shared rule — no -e after a copula — is what makes this a class worth learning together rather than verb by verb.
wees — the core copula
wees is "to be", and in the present it almost always appears as is for every person: ek is, jy is, hy is, ons is. Its predicate — adjective or noun — sits bare.
Ek is moeg; ek gaan vroeg slaap.
I'm tired; I'm going to bed early.
Sy is 'n dokter in die plaaslike hospitaal.
She's a doctor at the local hospital.
In the perfect, wees has two options: the everyday past is simply was (ek was siek), while het gewees exists for the true perfect ("have been"). The participle gewees keeps its ge-.
Ek was gister siek, maar vandag voel ek beter.
I was sick yesterday, but today I feel better.
word, bly, raak — staying and becoming, still bare
word (become), bly (stay/remain) and raak (get/become) all link a subject to a predicate just like wees, and all keep that predicate bare. word and raak describe a change of state; bly describes the absence of change. The crucial spelling fact is the perfect: it is het geword and het gebly — with ge-, and with het, never is.
Dit word koud — trek 'n trui aan.
It's getting cold — put on a jumper.
Bly kalm, ons sal 'n oplossing kry.
Stay calm, we'll find a solution.
Die water het te warm geraak.
The water got too hot.
The predicate stays bare across all three: word koud, bly kalm, raak warm — never koue, kalme, warme. Because word and raak describe becoming rather than being, they also appear on the dynamic change-of-state verbs page. Same verbs, two lenses: here we look at the shared linking frame; there we look at the becoming-meaning. For word on its own, see word — become.
lyk, voel, skyn — seeming and sensing
These three are copulas of appearance. lyk means "look/seem", voel means "feel" (from the subject's own viewpoint), and skyn is a more formal "appear/seem". All take a bare predicate, and lyk often pairs with of (as if) for a whole clause.
Jy lyk moeg — het jy sleg geslaap?
You look tired — did you sleep badly?
Dit lyk of dit gaan reën.
It looks like it's going to rain.
Die plan skyn goed te wees.
The plan seems to be a good one.
voel belongs to both this copular class and the emotion group, because feeling is a state described with a bare predicate (ek voel siek). The bare predicate after lyk and voel is the same no--e form you see after is.
Na die nuus het almal beter gevoel.
After the news everyone felt better.
Common mistakes
❌ Ek is moeie.
Incorrect — the predicate after a copula takes no -e.
✅ Ek is moeg.
I'm tired.
❌ Dit word koue.
Incorrect — word is a copula; the predicate stays bare.
✅ Dit word koud.
It's getting cold.
❌ Hy is gebly kalm.
Incorrect — the perfect of bly is het gebly, not is gebly.
✅ Hy het kalm gebly.
He stayed calm.
❌ Sy lyk moeie.
Incorrect — bare predicate after lyk.
✅ Sy lyk moeg.
She looks tired.
❌ Die water is te warm geword.
Incorrect — word takes het, not is, in the perfect.
✅ Die water het te warm geword.
The water got too hot.
Key takeaways
- wees, word, bly, lyk, voel, skyn, raak are all copular verbs sharing one frame.
- The adjective after any of them is bare — no -e ending (is moeg, word koud, bly kalm).
- wees has a special past: everyday was, plus het gewees for the perfect.
- word, bly and raak take het (not is) in the perfect: het geword, het gebly, het geraak.
- word and raak double as change-of-state verbs — same verb, the dynamic lens.
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.
- Predicative AdjectivesA1 — Predicative adjectives — those after wees, word, lyk, bly — stay bare in Afrikaans, with no ending and no agreement, whatever the subject.
- word (to become) — Full FormsA2 — word does double duty in Afrikaans: as a copula it means 'become' (Dit word koud), and as an auxiliary it builds the dynamic passive (Die huis word gebou).