Verbs with aan and op (dink aan, wag op) | Afrikaans Grammar

A cluster of high-frequency Afrikaans verbs comes welded to either aan or op, and in almost every case the choice does not match the English preposition. You think aan something, you wait op an event, you pay attention by letting op. This page is a lookup reference for those pairs. For the general principle that the preposition is an unpredictable fixed property of the verb, see the verbs-with-prepositions overview; here we just list the aan/op verbs, gloss them, and show each in a real sentence.

The reference table

Verb + preposition	Meaning	vs English
dink aan	to think of / about (call to mind)	"of/about", not "aan"
glo aan	to believe in (the existence of)	"in", not "aan"
wag op	to wait for / await (an event, a result)	"for", not "op"
reken op	to count on / rely on	"on", not "op"
let op	to pay attention to / note	no clean English match
antwoord op	to answer / reply to	often no preposition in English

Two things to notice before the details. First, op is doing a lot of work here — it is "for" in wag op, "on" in reken op, and bound up inside let op and antwoord op with no English equivalent at all. Second, the aan verbs (dink aan, glo aan) are exactly the ones where English uses "of", "about", or "in" — never "on", which is what aan looks like. Treat each pair as a single vocabulary item.

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Store the preposition with the verb, as one chunk: not "wag" but "wag op", not "dink" but "dink aan". Filing them separately is exactly how the English preposition sneaks back in and produces errors like dink van for "think about".

The aan verbs

dink aan — to think of / about

When you call something to mind — picture a person, remember a task, let your thoughts drift to something — Afrikaans uses dink aan. This is the "thinking" of memory and association, not of opinion. (For "what do you think of it?" — an opinion — Afrikaans switches to dink van, which gets its own treatment on verbs with van and vir. The preposition is what splits the two meanings.)

Ek dink heeldag aan jou.

I think about you all day.

Moenie nou aan die rekening dink nie — geniet die aand.

Don't think about the bill right now — enjoy the evening.

glo aan — to believe in

Glo aan means to believe in the existence or reality of something — ghosts, God, second chances, fate. Note the contrast with glo in, which you may also meet for "believe in" in the sense of having faith in a person's ability; for the everyday "do you believe in X?" the standard frame is glo aan.

My ouma het vas aan spoke geglo.

My grandmother firmly believed in ghosts.

Glo jy aan tweede kanse?

Do you believe in second chances?

The op verbs

wag op — to wait for / await an event

This is the headline of the page. Wag op means to await something that is going to happen — a result, a bus, a turn, a phone call, the rain. The object is an event or outcome, not a person you are physically waiting on. The contrast is sharp and worth drilling: when you wait for a person, Afrikaans uses wag vir (see verbs with van and vir).

Ons wag al twee weke op die uitslae.

We've been waiting for the results for two weeks now.

Die hele dorp wag op die eerste reën.

The whole town is waiting for the first rain.

English collapses both into one verb — "wait for" covers a person and an event — so the split is invisible until you cross into Afrikaans. The teaching point: wag op = await an event/outcome; wag vir = wait for a person. The two are cross-linked deliberately because the contrast is the lesson.

Ek wag vir my suster, en sy wag op die trein.

I'm waiting for my sister, and she's waiting for the train.

reken op — to count on / rely on

Reken op means to count on or rely on someone or something — to treat it as a sure thing you can plan around. Here English happens to use "on" too, but do not let that fool you into thinking the prepositions generally line up; this is a lucky coincidence in one verb, not a rule.

Jy kan op my reken — ek sal daar wees.

You can count on me — I'll be there.

Ons het op beter weer gereken, maar dit het gereën.

We were counting on better weather, but it rained.

let op — to pay attention to / note

Let op is "pay attention", "take note", "watch out". It is almost always used with op welded on; let never appears alone in modern usage. It can stand on its own as a warning (Let op! — "Pay attention!", "Note!") or take an object: let op die verskil (note the difference).

Let op die laaste sin — dis waar die fout sit.

Note the last sentence — that's where the mistake is.

Let op vir gladde paaie ná die reën.

Watch out for slippery roads after the rain.

antwoord op — to answer / reply to

When you answer a question, letter, or message, the thing you answer is marked with op: antwoord op die vraag (answer the question), antwoord op my e-pos (reply to my email). English usually answers a question with no preposition at all, which is exactly the trap — learners drop the op.

Hy het nog nie op my boodskap geantwoord nie.

He hasn't replied to my message yet.

Antwoord asseblief op al die vrae.

Please answer all the questions.

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When the object of one of these verbs is a thing, the preposition usually fuses with daar- into one word: op die uitslae → daarop, aan die probleem → daaraan. So you hear Ek wag daarop ("I'm waiting for it") and Moenie daaraan dink nie ("Don't think about it"). The fixed preposition is still there — it has just merged with the pronoun.

Common mistakes

❌ Ek wag op my broer by die stasie.

Incorrect — for a person it's wag vir, not wag op (op is for events/outcomes).

✅ Ek wag vir my broer by die stasie.

I'm waiting for my brother at the station.

❌ Sy het nie my vraag geantwoord nie.

Incorrect — antwoord needs op before the thing answered.

✅ Sy het nie op my vraag geantwoord nie.

She didn't answer my question.

❌ Jy kan op my staatmaak en reken aan my.

Incorrect — reken takes op, not aan: reken op my.

✅ Jy kan op my reken.

You can count on me.

❌ Dink jy op die vakansie?

Incorrect — 'think about' is dink aan, not dink op.

✅ Dink jy aan die vakansie?

Are you thinking about the holiday?

❌ Glo jy in spoke?

Less idiomatic for existence — 'believe in (the existence of)' is glo aan.

✅ Glo jy aan spoke?

Do you believe in ghosts?

Key takeaways

op here is "for" (wag op), "on" (reken op), and a meaning-bearing particle in let op and antwoord op — never trust the English preposition.
dink aan and glo aan use aan where English uses "of / about / in" — store each as a fixed chunk.
The big one: wag op = await an event or outcome; wag vir = wait for a person. English's single "wait for" hides this split — keep them apart and cross-check on verbs with van and vir.
antwoord op keeps its op even where English drops the preposition entirely (answer a question → antwoord op 'n vraag).
With a thing as object, the preposition fuses into a daar- word: wag op → daarop, dink aan → daaraan.

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