oopmaak ("to open") and toemaak ("to close") are the perfect first separable verbs to learn, for two reasons: you use them constantly — opening doors, windows, books, bottles, eyes — and they form a clean antonym pair built on the same template, so learning one teaches you the other. Both are separable: in a main clause the prefix (oop, toe) detaches and slides to the end (Maak die deur oop), and in the perfect the ge- is infixed into the middle (oopgemaak, toegemaak). If you can handle these two, you can handle the whole separable-verb system — see separable verbs for the broader pattern and separable verbs in the past for the participle rules.
The forms, side by side
| Form | oopmaak (open) | toemaak (close) |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (om) oop te maak | (om) toe te maak |
| Present (all persons) | ek / jy / hy maak oop | ek / jy / hy maak toe |
| Perfect (past) | het oopgemaak | het toegemaak |
| Future | sal oopmaak | sal toemaak |
| Imperative (sg.) | Maak oop! | Maak toe! |
Both verbs are built from the same engine: maak ("to make/do") plus a directional particle. oop means "open" (as an adjective: die deur is oop), toe means "shut/closed" (die deur is toe). The verb just adds the action — "make open," "make closed." Everything that follows comes from the separable particle behaving exactly the same way for both.
Maak die venster oop — dit is bedompig hierbinne.
Open the window — it's stuffy in here.
Maak die deur toe, asseblief; die hond gaan uitkom.
Close the door, please; the dog's going to get out.
The split in main clauses
This is the rule English speakers must internalise. In a finite main clause, the particle does not stay attached to maak. It detaches and travels to the end of the clause, with the object sitting in between: Maak die deur oop, not Oopmaak die deur. English actually does the same thing with phrasal verbs — "Take your coat off," "Turn the lights on" — so the instinct is already there; you just have to apply it consistently.
Sy maak elke oggend al die gordyne oop.
She opens all the curtains every morning.
Maak jou oë toe en raai wat ek vir jou gekoop het.
Close your eyes and guess what I bought you.
Ek maak die bottel oop terwyl jy die glase haal.
I'll open the bottle while you fetch the glasses.
The verb only stays glued together as oopmaak / toemaak in three places: the infinitive (om die deur oop te maak), after a modal (ek wil die deur oopmaak), and in a subordinate clause where the verb sits at the end (...dat ek die deur oopmaak).
The imperative
Commands are where you meet these verbs most often, and the split is at its sharpest. Maak oop! ("Open up!") and Maak toe! ("Close it!") are everyday utterances — knocking on a door, telling someone to shut a window. With an object, the object slots between maak and the particle: Maak die deur oop, Maak die boek toe.
Maak oop! Dis ek — ek het my sleutel vergeet.
Open up! It's me — I forgot my key.
Maak die boek toe; ons kyk later weer daarna.
Close the book; we'll look at it again later.
To make the command negative, Afrikaans wraps it in the moenie ... nie frame, and the split still holds: Moenie die deur toemaak nie — here, after moenie (a modal-like element), the verb stays whole as toemaak, with nie closing the bracket.
Moenie die deur toemaak nie — ek kom nou terug.
Don't close the door — I'll be right back.
Moenie die venster oopmaak nie; dit reën buite.
Don't open the window; it's raining outside.
The perfect: ge- in the middle
In the perfect, the ge- does not go in front of the whole verb (geoopmaak is wrong) — it slots between the particle and the stem: oop + ge + maak → oopgemaak, toe + ge + maak → toegemaak. Written as one solid word, the participle is preceded by het. This ge-infix is the single most important spelling fact about separable verbs.
Sy het die boek toegemaak en die lig afgeskakel.
She closed the book and switched off the light.
Wie het die hek oopgemaak? Die skape is in die tuin.
Who opened the gate? The sheep are in the garden.
Ek het al die vensters toegemaak voordat ons weg is.
I closed all the windows before we left.
Common mistakes
❌ Oopmaak die deur, asseblief.
Incorrect — in a main clause the particle must split: Maak ... oop.
✅ Maak die deur oop, asseblief.
Open the door, please.
The most common error is leaving the verb glued together in a main clause. The particle oop must detach and go to the end.
❌ Sy het die boek getoemaak.
Incorrect — the ge- is infixed, not prefixed: toegemaak.
✅ Sy het die boek toegemaak.
She closed the book.
The participle puts ge- in the middle: toe-ge-maak. Forms like getoemaak or geoopmaak do not exist.
❌ Moenie die deur toe maak nie.
Spelling — in the participle/infinitive the verb is one word; here toemaak stays whole after moenie.
✅ Moenie die deur toemaak nie.
Don't close the door.
After moenie, the verb behaves like an infinitive and stays whole: toemaak, one word, with nie closing the negation.
❌ Ek wil die venster maak oop.
Incorrect — after a modal the verb stays glued: oopmaak.
✅ Ek wil die venster oopmaak.
I want to open the window.
After a modal (wil, kan, moet), the verb does not split — it sits whole at the end as oopmaak. The split only happens when the verb itself is the finite main-clause verb.
Key takeaways
- oopmaak (open) and toemaak (close) are the model separable antonym pair, both built on maak
- particle.
- In a main clause the particle splits to the end: Maak die deur oop, Maak die venster toe.
- The verb stays whole in the infinitive (om ... oop te maak), after a modal (wil oopmaak), and after moenie (Moenie ... toemaak nie).
- The perfect infixes ge-: het oopgemaak, het toegemaak — written solid, never geoopmaak.
- Imperatives are everyday: Maak oop!, Maak toe! For more of the pattern, see the separable verbs list.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Separable Verbs: opstaan, aankom, uitgaanA2 — How separable verbs split — the stressed particle drops to the end of a main clause but rejoins the stem in subordinate clauses and infinitives.
- Past Tense of Separable VerbsB1 — How separable verbs form their past participle — ge- is infixed between the particle and the stem (opstaan → opgestaan, aankom → aangekom), written solid, and placed clause-finally — and why inseparable-prefixed verbs take no ge- at all.
- Common Separable Verbs (Reference)A2 — A reference table of the most frequent Afrikaans separable verbs, each shown in its split main-clause form, its joined subordinate-clause form, and its past participle.