This is a lookup page for the verbs of courtesy — greeting, thanking, congratulating, excusing, inviting. They cluster for two reasons. First, several are inseparable verbs (bedank, verskoon, begroet) that take no ge- in the past: het bedank, het verskoon. Second, the thanking and congratulating verbs come with fixed prepositions that English maps differently — you thank someone vir something and congratulate someone met something. The table is the quick reference; the notes give one example apiece. This page does not teach the fixed phrases of greeting and thanks themselves (dankie, baie dankie, aangename kennis) — those live on social formulas — nor the broader strategy of being polite, which is on politeness.
The courtesy-verb map
The heart of this page. Watch two columns: which verbs lose their ge-, and which preposition each one locks to.
| Verb | Gloss | Participle | Fixed frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| groet | greet, say goodbye | gegroet | groet iemand |
| bedank | thank | bedank (no ge-) | bedank iemand vir iets |
| gelukwens | congratulate | gelukgewens | gelukwens iemand met iets |
| verskoon | excuse, pardon | verskoon (no ge-) | verskoon iemand / jou verskoon |
| nooi | invite | genooi | nooi iemand (na / vir) |
| bel | phone, call | gebel | bel iemand |
groet — greet, say goodbye
groet ("to greet") covers both hello and goodbye — the same verb does the meeting and the parting. Sy het my vriendelik gegroet could be a greeting or a leave-taking, with context deciding. The participle is gegroet. You groet iemand (greet someone, direct object), no preposition needed. The more formal begroet ("to greet, to welcome") is inseparable and takes no ge-: het begroet.
Hy het almal by die deur gegroet voordat hy weg is.
He greeted everyone at the door before he left.
Groet jou ouers vir my as jy hulle sien.
Say hello to your parents for me when you see them.
bedank — thank
bedank ("to thank") is the inseparable verb at the centre of the politeness cluster. The participle is bedank, with no ge- (ek het hom bedank). Its fixed preposition is vir — you bedank iemand vir iets ("thank someone for something"). Don't confuse the verb bedank with saying dankie ("thank you"): dankie is the interjection, bedank is the verb of the act of thanking. Bedank has a second, unrelated sense — "to resign (from a post)" — disambiguated by context.
Ek wil jou hartlik bedank vir al jou hulp die afgelope week.
I want to thank you warmly for all your help this past week.
Hulle het die span bedank vir 'n uitstekende seisoen.
They thanked the team for an excellent season.
gelukwens — congratulate
gelukwens ("to congratulate") is built from geluk ("luck, fortune") + wens ("to wish"). Unlike bedank, it is separable, so its participle takes the ge- inside: gelukgewens (ek het hom gelukgewens — "I congratulated him"). Its fixed preposition is met — you wens iemand geluk met iets / gelukwens iemand met iets ("congratulate someone with / on something"). English uses "on," Afrikaans uses met: gelukwens met jou troue ("congratulate on your wedding"). In speech, the split phrasing geluk wens with geluk as a separate piece (wens jou geluk) is common.
Ek wil jou gelukwens met jou nuwe werk — jy het dit verdien.
I want to congratulate you on your new job — you deserved it.
Almal het die paartjie met hul verlowing gelukgewens.
Everyone congratulated the couple on their engagement.
verskoon — excuse, pardon
verskoon ("to excuse, to pardon") is the other inseparable no-ge- verb: participle verskoon (hy het my verskoon). It works two ways. With a person object, verskoon iemand asks pardon of them — verskoon my is "excuse me / pardon me." Reflexively, jou verskoon means "to excuse oneself" (to leave politely): sy het haar verskoon en is uit. Don't confuse Verskoon my (excuse me, asking pardon) with Jammer (sorry, apologising) — both translate loosely as "sorry," but verskoon asks leave while jammer expresses regret.
Verskoon my, weet jy dalk hoe laat dit is?
Excuse me, do you perhaps know what time it is?
Sy het haar vroeg verskoon omdat sy nie lekker gevoel het nie.
She excused herself early because she wasn't feeling well.
nooi — invite
nooi ("to invite") is a plain verb — participle genooi (ons het hulle genooi). The occasion is marked with na ("to" a place/event) or vir ("for"): nooi iemand na 'n partytjie ("invite someone to a party"). The fuller uitnooi ("to invite [out]") is separable, with participle uitgenooi.
Ons het die hele buurt na die braai genooi.
We invited the whole neighbourhood to the braai.
Het jy haar al vir die troue genooi?
Have you invited her to the wedding yet?
bel — phone, call
bel ("to phone, to call") is a plain verb — participle gebel (ek het jou gister gebel). You bel iemand directly, no preposition. Opbel (separable) is a slightly more old-fashioned synonym; plain bel is the everyday choice and also covers ringing a doorbell.
Bel my sodra jy by die huis kom, dan weet ek jy is veilig.
Call me as soon as you get home, so I know you're safe.
Ek het die dokter se kantoor gebel om 'n afspraak te maak.
I phoned the doctor's office to make an appointment.
Courtesy in one exchange
A short polite exchange runs several of these verbs through their fixed frames at once.
Sy het my by die deur gegroet, my bedank vir die geskenk, en my gelukgewens met die goeie nuus.
She greeted me at the door, thanked me for the gift, and congratulated me on the good news.
That sentence carries gegroet (plain ge-), bedank (no ge-), and gelukgewens (separable, ge- inside) — three participle shapes — plus the fixed vir and met. Get those automatic and the rest of the courtesy set falls into place.
Common mistakes
❌ Ek het hom gebedank vir die hulp.
Incorrect — bedank is inseparable and takes no ge-: het bedank.
✅ Ek het hom bedank vir die hulp.
I thanked him for the help.
❌ Ek wil jou bedank met jou nuwe werk. (meaning: congratulate)
Wrong verb and preposition — to congratulate is gelukwens, and it takes met: gelukwens met.
✅ Ek wil jou gelukwens met jou nuwe werk.
I want to congratulate you on your new job.
❌ Hy het my geverskoon.
Incorrect — verskoon is inseparable and takes no ge-: het verskoon.
✅ Hy het my verskoon.
He excused me.
❌ Sy het my gelukwens vir my verjaarsdag.
Incorrect — the participle is gelukgewens, and the preposition is met: gelukgewens met.
✅ Sy het my gelukgewens met my verjaarsdag.
She congratulated me on my birthday.
❌ Bedank vir kom! (meaning: thanks for coming)
Incorrect — for the fixed phrase use dankie, not the bare verb: dankie dat jy gekom het.
✅ Dankie dat jy gekom het.
Thanks for coming.
Key takeaways
- No-ge inseparables: bedank and verskoon keep their infinitive form — het bedank, het verskoon. The plain verbs take ge-: gegroet, genooi, gebel.
- gelukwens is separable: participle gelukgewens, with the ge- inside.
- Fixed prepositions: bedank ... vir (thank for), gelukwens ... met (congratulate on). Don't swap them.
- groet covers hello and goodbye; verskoon asks pardon (verskoon my) or excuses oneself (jou verskoon).
- The verb bedank is the act of thanking; the word dankie is the fixed phrase — see social formulas.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Social Formulas: thanks, apologies, wishesA1 — The fixed everyday formulas of Afrikaans social life — thanks, apologies, congratulations, and good wishes — learned as whole units.
- Inseparable Prefixes: be-, ver-, ont-, her-, er-, ge-B1 — The unstressed bound prefixes be-, ge-, her-, ont-, ver- and er- that never detach from the verb and suppress the ge- of the past participle — with stress as the diagnostic.
- Politeness and RequestsB1 — How Afrikaans softens requests and offers — asseblief, conditional modals, and diminutives — by layering particles rather than adding clauses.