This page lists the Afrikaans verbs that govern na ("to / toward") or met ("with"). The na verbs are perceiving and yearning verbs — you listen, look, search, and long na their objects. The met verbs are accompaniment verbs — you talk, marry, and begin met their objects. As elsewhere in this set, the prepositions rarely match English. Use this as a lookup; for the general rule that the preposition is a fixed property of the verb, see the verbs-with-prepositions overview.
The reference table
| Verb + preposition | Meaning | vs English |
|---|---|---|
| luister na | to listen to | "to", not "na" |
| kyk na | to look at / watch | "at", not "na" |
| soek na | to search for / look for | "for", not "na" |
| verlang na | to long for / miss / yearn for | "for", not "na" |
| praat met | to talk to / speak with | "to/with"; often no preposition |
| trou met | to marry (someone) | no preposition in English |
| begin met | to begin with / start with | matches "with" |
The na verbs
luister na — to listen to
Luister na is "listen to". The na is obligatory — luister on its own does not take a bare object. English "to" and Afrikaans na both translate as direction words, but you cannot reason from one to the other; this is simply the fixed frame.
Hy luister na die radio terwyl hy kook.
He listens to the radio while he cooks.
Luister 'n bietjie na my — dis belangrik.
Listen to me for a second — this is important.
kyk na — to look at / watch
Kyk na covers both "look at" and "watch". Where English chooses "at" (look at) or nothing (watch TV), Afrikaans uses na throughout. In fast speech the na is sometimes dropped before a clear object (kyk TV), but the full, safe form is kyk na.
Kyk na daardie sononder — dis pragtig!
Look at that sunset — it's gorgeous!
Ons het gisteraand na 'n goeie fliek gekyk.
We watched a good film last night.
soek na — to search for / look for
Soek na means to search for — to actively hunt for something. Note that plain soek (without na) also exists and is extremely common for "look for / want" (Ek soek my sleutels — "I'm looking for my keys"). The na version foregrounds the searching, the process of seeking: soek na 'n oplossing (search for a solution).
Die polisie soek nog na die vermiste hond.
The police are still searching for the missing dog.
Ons soek al maande na 'n groter huis.
We've been searching for a bigger house for months.
verlang na — to long for / miss
Verlang na is the verb of yearning — longing for a place, a person, a time. It is warmer and more emotional than plain "miss"; it is what you feel for home when you are far away. The preposition is na.
Ek verlang na die see en die reuk van soutwater.
I long for the sea and the smell of salt water.
Sy verlang na haar kinders wat oorsee woon.
She misses her children who live overseas.
The met verbs
praat met — to talk to / speak with
Praat met is "talk to" or "speak with". English wavers between "to" and "with"; Afrikaans always uses met ("with"). So you literally talk with someone — even when you are doing the talking and they are only listening.
Ek moet gou met jou praat oor die naweek.
I need to talk to you quickly about the weekend.
Het jy al met die dokter gepraat?
Have you spoken to the doctor yet?
trou met — to marry (someone)
A favourite. English marries someone with no preposition at all ("she married him"); Afrikaans marries met ("with") them — sy het met hom getrou. This is pure transfer pain, because the English sentence gives you nothing to translate the met from. The form to memorise: trou met.
Hulle gaan in Maart met mekaar trou.
They're getting married in March.
Sy het jonk met haar skoolliefde getrou.
She married her school sweetheart young.
begin met — to begin with / start with
Begin met is "begin/start with" something — open a meeting with a prayer, start a meal with soup, kick off a course with the basics. Here English uses "with" too, so the frame feels natural; the trap is forgetting that begin can also take a plain object or an om te infinitive (begin om te werk — start to work). For starting with a particular thing, use begin met.
Kom ons begin met die belangrikste punt.
Let's begin with the most important point.
Die kursus begin met 'n kort toets.
The course begins with a short test.
Common mistakes
❌ Hy luister die radio.
Incorrect — luister needs na: luister na die radio.
✅ Hy luister na die radio.
He listens to the radio.
❌ Kyk daardie voël!
Incorrect — 'look at' is kyk na, not bare kyk before a noun.
✅ Kyk na daardie voël!
Look at that bird!
❌ Sy het hom verlede jaar getrou.
Incorrect — 'marry someone' is trou met: met hom getrou.
✅ Sy het verlede jaar met hom getrou.
She married him last year.
❌ Ek wil met jou praat oor — eintlik wil ek jou praat.
Incorrect — 'talk to someone' is praat met, never praat + bare object.
✅ Ek wil met jou praat.
I want to talk to you.
❌ Ek verlang vir my familie.
Incorrect — 'long for' takes na, not vir: verlang na.
✅ Ek verlang na my familie.
I miss my family.
Key takeaways
- The na verbs of perceiving and yearning — luister na, kyk na, soek na, verlang na — all use na where English uses "to", "at", or "for". The recurring error is dropping na.
- The met verbs of accompaniment — praat met, trou met, begin met — use met ("with"). Two of them, praat met and trou met, take met where English uses "to" or nothing at all.
- trou met is the standout: English has no preposition to translate the met from, so it must be memorised as a chunk.
- With a thing as object, na → daarna and met → daarmee.
- For the aan/op and van/vir verbs, see verbs with aan and op and verbs with van and vir.
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Verbs with aan and op (dink aan, wag op)B1 — A lookup table of Afrikaans verbs that govern aan or op — dink aan, glo aan, wag op, reken op, let op, antwoord op — with the meanings, examples, and the wag op / wag vir split that English hides.
- Verbs with van and vir (hou van, vra vir)B1 — A lookup table of Afrikaans verbs that govern van or vir — hou van, dink van, vra vir, sorg vir, wag vir, bang wees vir — with examples and the dink aan / dink van meaning split.
- Afrikaans Prepositions: OverviewA1 — A map of the Afrikaans preposition system — invariant little words, many cognate with English, plus the destination postposition 'toe' and circumpositions English lacks.