This is a lookup page for the verbs of transfer — giving, showing, offering, handing over. What unites them is a single syntactic shape: each is ditransitive, taking a thing (the direct object) and a recipient (the person), and each marks that recipient with vir ("to / for"). Learn the frame once with gee, and the whole class follows. The payoff is real: the vir-recipient is exactly where English speakers slip, because English lets you drop "to" in give me the salt, while Afrikaans wants the recipient marked. The table is the quick reference; the notes give one example apiece. This page does not re-teach the dative — for the deep grammar of vir as a recipient marker, see vir as a dative marker and double objects and datives.
The transfer-verb map
The heart of this page. Every verb here accepts two frames: the double-object order (gee my dit) and the vir-recipient order (gee dit vir my). The right-hand column flags anything special.
| Verb | Gloss | Participle | Double-object / vir-recipient |
|---|---|---|---|
| gee | give | gegee | gee my dit / gee dit vir my |
| wys | show | gewys | wys my dit / wys dit vir my |
| bied | offer | gebied | bied my iets / bied iets vir my (aan) |
| skenk | donate, grant | geskenk | skenk iets aan / vir 'n saak |
| leen | lend | geleen | leen my iets / leen iets vir my |
| oorhandig | hand over | oorhandig (no ge-) | oorhandig iets aan / vir iemand |
gee — give
gee ("to give") is the model for the whole group. The participle is gegee. Both orders are good: the double-object gee my die sout ("give me the salt") and the vir-recipient gee die sout vir my. The vir version is the safer default for learners, because it never gets the order wrong. For the full conjugation and the gee om/idiom uses, see the dedicated gee (to give).
Gee vir my net 'n minuut — ek is amper klaar.
Just give me a minute — I'm almost done.
My ouma het vir my hierdie horlosie gegee toe ek twintig geword het.
My grandmother gave me this watch when I turned twenty.
wys — show
wys ("to show") is gee for information rather than objects — you transfer a sight to someone. It takes the same two frames: wys my die foto / wys die foto vir my. The participle is gewys. Note that wys is also an adjective meaning "wise" ('n wyse vrou), but the verb and the recipient frame keep it unambiguous in a sentence.
Wys my gou waar die stasie is op die kaart.
Quickly show me where the station is on the map.
Hy het vir ons foto's van sy reis na Namibië gewys.
He showed us photos of his trip to Namibia.
bied — offer
bied ("to offer") presents something for the other person to accept or refuse. The participle is gebied. It very often appears as the separable aanbied ("to offer, to present"): bied iets aan, participle aangebied. With the recipient, both bied my iets and bied iets vir my (aan) work; in an auction or negotiation, bied alone means "to bid." Keep bied distinct from gebied the noun ("area, region") — context and the verb frame separate them.
Hulle het my 'n beter pos by 'n ander maatskappy gebied.
They offered me a better position at another company.
Kan ek vir jou iets te drinke aanbied?
May I offer you something to drink?
skenk — donate, grant
skenk ("to donate, to grant, to bestow") is the elevated, generous member of the family — used for charity, gifts of significance, and formal grants. The participle is geskenk. The recipient or cause is usually marked with aan ("to") in this register: skenk geld aan 'n liefdadigheid ("donate money to a charity"), though vir is heard in speech. It also has the lovely intransitive-ish sense aandag skenk aan ("to pay attention to").
Die gemeenskap het duisende rande aan die skool geskenk.
The community donated thousands of rand to the school.
Ons moet meer aandag skenk aan wat die kinders sê.
We should pay more attention to what the children say.
leen — lend
leen ("to lend") joins this group as a transfer verb: you hand something over temporarily. The participle is geleen. As a giving verb it takes the vir-recipient frame — leen die boek vir my ("lend the book to me") — exactly like gee. But leen carries a second life: it also means borrow (taking, not giving), where the source is marked with by. That commerce/direction split is treated in full on transaction verbs; here, simply remember that leen vir/aan points the thing outward to a recipient, the same direction as every other verb on this page.
Kan jy jou laaier vir my leen? My foon is amper pap.
Can you lend me your charger? My phone is almost dead.
Ek het my gunstelingboek vir 'n vriend geleen en nooit teruggekry nie.
I lent my favourite book to a friend and never got it back.
oorhandig — hand over
oorhandig ("to hand over") is the formal, ceremonial member — handing over a prize, a document, a key. The participle is oorhandig, with no ge-, because here oor- functions as an inseparable prefix (you say het oorhandig, not het oorgehandig). The recipient is marked with aan in formal register, or vir in speech: oorhandig die prys aan die wenner ("hand the prize to the winner").
Die burgemeester het die sleutels van die stad aan die span oorhandig.
The mayor handed over the keys of the city to the team.
Sy het die dokumente persoonlik vir die regter oorhandig.
She handed the documents to the judge in person.
One frame, every verb
The point of this page in a single sentence: because the frame is shared, you can swap the verb freely and the rest stays put.
Hy het die brief vir my gewys, dit toe vir my gegee, en gevra of hy my pen vir 'n oomblik kan leen.
He showed me the letter, then gave it to me, and asked whether he could borrow my pen for a moment.
That sentence runs wys vir, gee vir, and leen through one consistent recipient slot. Once vir my feels automatic after gee, it transfers — with no extra learning — to wys, bied, skenk, leen, and oorhandig.
Common mistakes
❌ Gee die sout my.
Incorrect — mark the recipient with vir, or use the double-object order gee my die sout.
✅ Gee die sout vir my.
Give me the salt.
❌ Hy het my die foto's gewys vir my.
Incorrect — don't double up: either wys my die foto's or wys die foto's vir my, not both.
✅ Hy het die foto's vir my gewys.
He showed me the photos.
❌ Sy het die dokumente vir die regter oorgehandig.
Incorrect — oorhandig is inseparable here and takes no ge-: het oorhandig.
✅ Sy het die dokumente vir die regter oorhandig.
She handed the documents to the judge.
❌ Leen die boek my, asseblief.
Incorrect — mark the recipient: leen die boek vir my (or the double-object leen my die boek).
✅ Leen die boek vir my, asseblief.
Lend me the book, please.
❌ Hulle het geld die skool geskenk.
Incorrect — skenk needs the recipient marked: skenk aan die skool (or vir die skool in speech).
✅ Hulle het geld aan die skool geskenk.
They donated money to the school.
Key takeaways
- One shared frame: every verb here is ditransitive and marks the recipient with vir (informal) or aan (formal). Learn gee dit vir my and the class follows.
- Two valid orders: double-object (gee my dit) and vir-recipient (gee dit vir my). The vir order is the safe default — it never mis-orders the objects.
- vir vs aan by register: vir in speech, aan in formal writing and with skenk / oorhandig.
- oorhandig takes no ge- — het oorhandig, not het oorgehandig.
- leen here = lend (outward to a recipient); its "borrow" sense (leen by) lives on transaction verbs.
Now practice Afrikaans
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- vir as the Indirect-Object MarkerB1 — How vir marks the recipient or beneficiary of an action (gee dit vir my), and the distinctively Afrikaans habit of using vir to mark personal objects (ek ken vir hom).
- Double Objects and Dative AlternationB2 — Ditransitive verbs like gee let you say both 'gee my die boek' and 'gee die boek vir my' — the same meaning, two orders, with a soft pull toward fronting pronoun recipients.
- gee (to give) — Full FormsA2 — All the forms of gee (give) plus its ditransitive frame — when to slot the recipient in with vir, and the two ways to order indirect and direct objects.