Transaction Verbs: koop, verkoop, betaal, kos, leen, ruil | Afrikaans Grammar

This is a lookup page for the verbs of buying, selling, and paying — the language of the shop, the market, and the bank. They cluster together because they share a money domain, but their past-tense forms split into two camps: most take the ordinary ge- participle (gekoop, geruil, geleen), while verkoop, betaal, and bestel take no ge- at all because their prefixes are inseparable. One verb, leen, hides a trap that English keeps as two separate words: it means both "lend" and "borrow." The table is the quick reference; the notes give one clean example apiece. This page does not teach the grammar of inseparable prefixes — for that, see inseparable prefixes — nor the wider vocabulary of prices and amounts, which lives on quantity and money.

The commerce-verb map

The heart of this page. The right-hand columns are where the differences live: watch which verbs lose their ge-, and which preposition each one reaches for.

Verb	Gloss	Participle	Key frame / note
koop	buy	gekoop	koop iets (by + seller)
verkoop	sell	verkoop (no ge-)	verkoop iets (aan / vir + buyer)
betaal	pay	betaal (no ge-)	betaal vir iets / betaal iemand
kos	cost	gekos	dit kos R… (no human subject)
leen	lend / borrow	geleen	leen vir = lend; leen by = borrow
ruil	exchange, swap	geruil	ruil iets vir iets
bestel	order	bestel (no ge-)	bestel iets (by + supplier)

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Three of these verbs — verkoop, betaal, bestel — take noge- in the past tense: het verkoop, het betaal, het bestel. Their prefixes (ver-, be-) are unstressed and inseparable, and an inseparable prefix blocks the ge-. The four that do take it — gekoop, geruil, gekos, geleen — start with a stressed syllable.

koop — buy

koop ("to buy") is the plain verb at the centre of the group. The participle is gekoop. The seller, when named, comes in through by ("from"): ek het dit by die apteek gekoop ("I bought it from the pharmacy"). English uses "from" for the source; Afrikaans uses by, not van, for a person or shop you buy from. For koop alongside soek in a shopping context, see koop and soek.

Ek het hierdie skoene gister op die mark gekoop.

I bought these shoes at the market yesterday.

Waar het jy daardie jas gekoop? Dit lyk wonderlik.

Where did you buy that coat? It looks great.

verkoop — sell

verkoop ("to sell") is koop with the prefix ver-, and that prefix changes the participle completely: it is verkoop, with no ge-, identical to the infinitive. This is the single most common error English speakers make with this verb — they reach for geverkoop, which does not exist. The buyer is marked with aan or vir ("to"): verkoop dit aan my / verkoop dit vir my. See the paired treatment on koop and verkoop.

Hulle het hul huis verlede maand verkoop en is nou aan die trek.

They sold their house last month and are now moving.

Kan jy dit goedkoper aan my verkoop?

Can you sell it to me cheaper?

betaal — pay

betaal ("to pay") also takes no ge- — the participle is betaal — because be- is an inseparable prefix. The frame is flexible: you betaal iemand (pay a person, direct object) or betaal vir iets (pay for a thing, with vir). Don't drop the vir when the thing is what's being paid for: betaal vir die koffie, not betaal die koffie (which would mean paying the coffee itself). The full dedicated page is betaal.

Ek het al vir die kaartjies betaal — jy hoef niks te doen nie.

I've already paid for the tickets — you don't have to do anything.

Het jy die rekening betaal of moet ek dit doen?

Did you pay the bill, or should I do it?

kos — cost

kos ("to cost") is the odd member: it has no human subject. The thing costs the money — dit kos R50 — and there is no one "doing" the costing. The participle is gekos, used when you report what something cost in the past: dit het R50 gekos. Note the spelling: the verb kos is distinct from the noun kos ("food"), spelled the same but unrelated in meaning.

Hoeveel kos 'n koppie koffie hier?

How much does a cup of coffee cost here?

Die hele reis het ons net R2000 gekos — 'n winskoop.

The whole trip cost us only R2000 — a bargain.

leen — lend and borrow

leen is the trap. Where English splits the idea into two words — lend (give temporarily) and borrow (take temporarily) — Afrikaans uses the one verb leen for both, and lets the preposition carry the direction. The participle is geleen in both senses.

leen vir (or leen aan) = lend: the thing goes to someone. Ek leen my fiets vir hom — "I lend my bike to him."
leen by (or leen van) = borrow: the thing comes from someone. Ek leen 'n fiets by hom — "I borrow a bike from him."

So the bare object plus vir points outward (lending), and the by points to the source (borrowing). When there's no preposition at all, context decides — but adding vir or by removes all doubt. leen also appears as a transfer verb on giving and showing verbs; here we treat it as commerce, money you lend or borrow.

Kan ek R100 by jou leen tot Vrydag?

Can I borrow R100 from you until Friday?

Ek het my kar vir my suster geleen terwyl hare reggemaak word.

I lent my car to my sister while hers is being fixed.

ruil — exchange, swap

ruil ("to exchange, to swap") frames the trade with vir ("for"): ruil A vir B, you give A and get B. The participle is geruil. In a shop, returning a faulty item for a different one is omruil (a separable verb): kan ek dit omruil? ("can I exchange it?"). Plain ruil is the act of swapping two things between people.

Ons het van plekke geruil sodat sy by die venster kon sit.

We swapped seats so she could sit by the window.

Wil jy jou toebroodjie vir my appel ruil?

Do you want to swap your sandwich for my apple?

bestel — order

bestel ("to order" — in a restaurant or from a supplier) shares betaal's no-ge- pattern: the participle is bestel, because be- is inseparable. Like koop, the source comes in through by: ek het dit by die kelner bestel ("I ordered it from the waiter"). Don't confuse it with stel ("to set, to adjust") — bestel is specifically placing an order.

Het julle al kos bestel, of wag julle nog vir die spyskaart?

Have you ordered food yet, or are you still waiting for the menu?

Ek het die boek aanlyn bestel; dit behoort volgende week te kom.

I ordered the book online; it should arrive next week.

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For "borrow from" use leen by; for "lend to" use leen vir. A memory hook: by points to the source you take from, vir points to the person you give to. If you can replace it with "from," use by; if with "to," use vir.

Common mistakes

❌ Hulle het hul motor verlede week geverkoop.

Incorrect — verkoop is inseparable and takes no ge-: het verkoop.

✅ Hulle het hul motor verlede week verkoop.

They sold their car last week.

❌ Ek het die boek aanlyn gebestel. (meaning: ordered)

Incorrect — bestel takes no ge- either: het bestel.

✅ Ek het die boek aanlyn bestel.

I ordered the book online.

❌ Kan ek R50 vir jou leen? (meaning: borrow from you)

Wrong direction — leen vir means lend; to borrow from someone use leen by.

✅ Kan ek R50 by jou leen?

Can I borrow R50 from you?

❌ Ek het die koffie betaal.

Incorrect — to pay for a thing you need vir: betaal vir die koffie.

✅ Ek het vir die koffie betaal.

I paid for the coffee.

❌ Ek het dit van die apteek gekoop.

Incorrect — you buy from a shop with by, not van: by die apteek.

✅ Ek het dit by die apteek gekoop.

I bought it from the pharmacy.

Key takeaways

No-ge inseparables: verkoop, betaal, bestel keep their infinitive form in the past — het verkoop, het betaal, het bestel. The ge- takers are gekoop, geruil, gekos, geleen.
leen = lend AND borrow. Direction is set by the preposition: leen vir / aan = lend (give); leen by / van = borrow (take).
betaal vir a thing, betaal a person. Don't drop the vir when paying for something.
Buy and order from a source with by, not van: koop by die mark, bestel by die kelner.
kos has no human subject — the thing does the costing: dit kos R50, dit het R50 gekos.

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