raak is a small word doing a surprising amount of work. It is the colloquial verb of becoming (dit raak laat, "it's getting late"; sy raak kwaad, "she's getting angry"), it means to touch (moenie raak nie, "don't touch"), and it means to hit a target (die klip het die ruit geraak, "the stone hit the window"). One regular verb, three or four distinct senses — and English uses an entirely different word for each. This page sorts them out. The inchoative "become" sense is the everyday counterpart of the more formal word, so cross-reference word (to become); for the whole family of change-of-state verbs, see change-of-state verbs.
The forms
raak is regular: present raak, perfect het geraak, future sal raak. The same forms serve every sense — context tells you whether someone became angry, touched the paint, or hit the target.
| Tense / form | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present | raak | dit raak, sy raak, hulle raak |
| Perfect (past) | het geraak | sy het kwaad geraak |
| Future | sal raak | dit sal koud raak |
| Infinitive | (om te) raak | om wakker te raak |
| Imperative | Raak! / Moenie raak nie! | Moenie die verf raak nie! |
Dit raak laat — ons moet nou ry.
It's getting late — we should drive now.
Sy het kwaad geraak toe sy die rekening sien.
She got angry when she saw the bill.
Sense 1: raak = become / get (colloquial inchoative)
The most frequent use: raak + an adjective means to become or get that way — the everyday spoken version of word. raak warm (get warm), raak wakker (wake up), raak kwaad (get angry), raak moeg (get tired), raak siek (get sick). It marks the change of entering a new state.
Maak die venster oop, dit raak warm hier binne.
Open the window, it's getting warm in here.
Ek raak elke oggend om vyfuur wakker.
I wake up at five every morning.
Moenie kwaad raak nie — ek het dit nie so bedoel nie.
Don't get angry — I didn't mean it like that.
There is a clean register contrast here with word. Both dit word warm and dit raak warm mean "it's getting warm", but word is the neutral, more formal copula while raak is the colloquial, conversational choice — the one you actually hear. Some collocations strongly prefer raak: wakker raak (wake up) and aan die slaap raak (fall asleep) are far more natural than the word equivalents. For the formal side of this pairing, see word (to become).
Sense 2: raak = touch
With a direct object, raak means to touch — to make physical contact. It is the verb on every "wet paint" sign and every parent's warning.
Moenie die verf raak nie — dit is nog nat.
Don't touch the paint — it's still wet.
Sy het saggies sy skouer geraak om hom wakker te maak.
She gently touched his shoulder to wake him.
A close relative is aanraak (separable: raak aan), also "to touch", which feels slightly more deliberate — moenie aan die skildery raak nie (don't touch the painting). For learners, plain raak + object is the workhorse: raak dit nie (don't touch it). Note the negative imperative pattern moenie ... raak nie, which wraps the whole instruction.
Sense 3: raak = hit a target / strike
Still with a direct object but a different flavour, raak means to hit or strike something — to land on a target. This is the sense in sport (hitting the ball), in aim (the stone hitting the window), and in accidents (something striking a person).
Die klip het die ruit geraak en dit het gebreek.
The stone hit the window and it broke.
Die bal het hom reg op die kop geraak.
The ball hit him right on the head.
This is also the source of the very common adverb raak meaning "on target / accurately" — raak skiet (shoot accurately), raak slaan (hit the mark) — and of the figurative dit raak my ("that affects me / hits home"), where the striking is emotional rather than physical.
Sy woorde het my diep geraak.
His words affected me deeply.
Telling the senses apart
The three senses split cleanly by what follows the verb:
| Pattern | Sense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| raak + adjective | become / get | dit raak laat, sy raak kwaad |
| raak + object (contact) | touch | moenie die verf raak nie |
| raak + object (impact) | hit / strike | die bal het hom geraak |
The line between "touch" and "hit" is force: gentle contact is touch, forceful or targeted contact is hit. Both take a plain object, and context settles which is meant — sy het my arm geraak (she touched my arm) versus die motor het die hek geraak (the car hit the gate).
Common mistakes
❌ Dit word laat — ons moet ry.
Not wrong, but stiff in conversation — for everyday 'it's getting late', raak is the natural choice.
✅ Dit raak laat — ons moet ry.
It's getting late — we should drive.
❌ Ek word elke oggend wakker.
Unidiomatic — 'wake up' is wakker raak, not wakker word.
✅ Ek raak elke oggend wakker.
I wake up every morning.
❌ Moenie die verf aanraak.
Incomplete negative — the negative imperative needs its closing nie: moenie ... raak nie.
✅ Moenie die verf raak nie.
Don't touch the paint.
❌ Sy het kwaad geword en die deur toegeslaan.
Not wrong, but heavier than needed — in everyday narration kwaad raak is the idiomatic 'got angry'.
✅ Sy het kwaad geraak en die deur toegeslaan.
She got angry and slammed the door.
❌ Die klip het die ruit getref.
Wrong verb here — for a stone hitting a window everyday Afrikaans uses raak; tref is more formal/abstract.
✅ Die klip het die ruit geraak.
The stone hit the window.
Key takeaways
- raak is regular: present raak, perfect het geraak, future sal raak — the same forms across all senses.
- raak + adjective = become / get; this is the colloquial twin of formal word (compare word).
- Fixed phrases prefer raak: wakker raak, aan die slaap raak, kwaad raak.
- raak + object = touch (gentle contact) or hit/strike (forceful, targeted) — force decides which.
- Figuratively, dit raak my = "that affects me / hits home".
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Change-of-State Verbs: word, raak, verander, groeiB2 — A lookup table of Afrikaans inchoative verbs — word, raak, verander, groei, verbeter, versleg — that all mean 'become X' and all, despite expressing change and movement, build the perfect with het rather than is.
- word (to become) — Full FormsA2 — word does double duty in Afrikaans: as a copula it means 'become' (Dit word koud), and as an auxiliary it builds the dynamic passive (Die huis word gebou).