aantrek ("to put on / get dressed") and uittrek ("to take off / undress") are the clothing verbs you need for every morning and every evening of your life, and they teach two patterns at once: the separable split and optional reflexivity. Both are built on trek ("to pull") — you pull on a jacket (aantrek) and pull off your shoes (uittrek) — with separable particles aan ("on") and uit ("off/out"). On top of the split, they can take a reflexive pronoun to mean dressing yourself: jou aantrek = "get dressed." This page covers the forms and both uses; the reflexive grammar in full lives on reflexive verbs, and these verbs sit at the heart of the morning routine on daily routine verbs.
The forms, side by side
| Form | aantrek (put on) | uittrek (take off) |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (om) aan te trek | (om) uit te trek |
| Present (all persons) | ek / jy / hy trek aan | ek / jy / hy trek uit |
| Perfect (past) | het aangetrek | het uitgetrek |
| Future | sal aantrek | sal uittrek |
| Imperative (sg.) | Trek aan! | Trek uit! |
The logic is transparent once you see the base verb: trek is "pull," so you literally pull on (aantrek) and pull off (uittrek) clothing. Both are separable: in a main clause the particle (aan, uit) detaches to the end (Trek jou jas aan), and the perfect infixes ge- → aangetrek, uitgetrek, written solid.
Trek jou skoene aan — ons is laat vir die skool.
Put your shoes on — we're late for school.
Sy het haar jas uitgetrek en oor die stoel gegooi.
She took off her coat and threw it over the chair.
Putting on and taking off: the transitive use
In the transitive use, the verb takes the garment as its direct object — what you put on or take off. The particle splits to the end in a main clause, with the garment in between: Trek jou jas aan ("Put your jacket on"), Trek jou skoene uit ("Take your shoes off"). This is the bread-and-butter use, identical in structure to other separable verbs.
Trek jou jas aan, dit is yskoud buite.
Put your jacket on, it's freezing outside.
Hy het sy nat klere uitgetrek en gou gestort.
He took off his wet clothes and quickly showered.
Wat trek jy aan vir die troue Saterdag?
What are you wearing to the wedding on Saturday?
The reflexive: dressing oneself
When you are not naming a garment but talking about getting dressed as a whole — dressing yourself — the verb takes a reflexive pronoun instead of a garment object: jou aantrek ("get [yourself] dressed"), my uittrek ("get [myself] undressed"). The reflexive pronoun matches the subject: ek trek my aan, jy trek jou aan, sy trek haar aan, ons trek ons aan. This is the natural way to say "get dressed / undressed" without specifying clothes. (For the full reflexive-pronoun paradigm, see reflexive verbs.)
Ek trek my gou aan, dan kan ons ry.
I'll get dressed quickly, then we can go.
Trek jou warm aan — dit gaan vannag vries.
Dress warmly — it's going to freeze tonight.
Die kinders kan hulself al aantrek.
The children can already dress themselves.
Notice that the reflexive can carry an adverb of manner instead of a garment: jou warm aantrek ("dress warmly"), jou netjies aantrek ("dress neatly"). The pronoun stays the object; the adverb describes how you dress.
Sy het haar mooi aangetrek vir die onderhoud.
She dressed up nicely for the interview.
The perfect and the imperative
The perfect infixes ge-: het aangetrek, het uitgetrek, written as one solid word. Commands split the particle to the end: Trek aan! ("Get dressed!" / "Put it on!"), Trek uit! ("Take it off!"). The reflexive shows up here too — Ek het my warm aangetrek ("I dressed warmly").
Ek het my warm aangetrek, want die bus is altyd yskoud.
I dressed warmly, because the bus is always freezing.
Trek uit! Jy is papnat — jy gaan koud kry.
Take it off! You're soaking wet — you'll catch a cold.
Het jy al die kinders aangetrek vir die partytjie?
Have you already dressed the children for the party?
Common mistakes
❌ Trek aan jou skoene.
Incorrect — in a main clause the particle aan must split to the end.
✅ Trek jou skoene aan.
Put your shoes on.
In a main clause the particle detaches and goes after the object: Trek jou skoene aan, not Trek aan jou skoene.
❌ Ek trek aan, dan kom ek.
Incomplete — get-dressed needs a reflexive pronoun: trek my aan.
✅ Ek trek my aan, dan kom ek.
I'll get dressed, then I'll come.
To mean "get [myself] dressed" without naming clothes, you must add the reflexive pronoun: ek trek my aan. Omitting it leaves the verb dangling.
❌ Sy het haar jas uitgetrek aan.
Incorrect — uittrek takes only uit; don't tack on aan.
✅ Sy het haar jas uitgetrek.
She took off her coat.
uittrek already carries its own particle uit. Don't add a second one — and watch the antonyms: aan = on, uit = off.
❌ Sy het haar jas uittrek.
Incorrect — the perfect infixes ge-: uitgetrek.
✅ Sy het haar jas uitgetrek.
She took off her coat.
The participle slots ge- into the middle: uit-ge-trek → uitgetrek, aan-ge-trek → aangetrek. The bare uittrek / aantrek is the infinitive, not the past participle.
Key takeaways
- aantrek (put on / get dressed) and uittrek (take off / undress) are separable verbs built on trek ("pull"): pull on, pull off.
- In a main clause the particle splits to the end: Trek jou jas aan, Trek jou skoene uit.
- The perfect infixes ge-: het aangetrek, het uitgetrek — written solid.
- With a garment object they mean put on / take off; with a reflexive pronoun (jou aantrek) they mean get dressed / undressed — and the reflexive can carry a manner adverb (jou warm aantrek, "dress warmly").
- For the reflexive-pronoun paradigm see reflexive verbs; for the wider morning sequence see daily routine 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
- 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.
- Reflexive Verbs and PronounsB1 — Afrikaans builds reflexive constructions from the ordinary object pronouns (ek was my, sy skaam haar) — there is no special reflexive like Dutch zich — and -self adds emphasis.
- Daily-Routine Verbs: opstaan, aantrek, was, eet, slaap, werkA1 — A lookup table of the everyday Afrikaans routine verbs — opstaan, aantrek, uittrek, was, eet, slaap, werk — set in a morning-to-night narrative, showing the present, the split form, and the participle of each.