Most word-formation adds something — a prefix, a suffix, an ending. Conversion (also called zero-derivation) does the opposite: a word changes its part of speech with no affix at all. Die hamer (the hammer, a noun) becomes hamer (to hammer, a verb) without a single letter added. This is one of the most productive processes in living Afrikaans, and it is the mechanism by which the language swallows English loan-verbs whole. For derivation that does use endings, see suffixes; this page is about the affixless route.
What conversion is
In conversion, the form stays identical and only the grammatical category shifts. The reader works out from context whether werk is the noun "work" or the verb "to work", because nothing in the word itself signals the difference. Afrikaans does this in both directions and very freely.
| Base | Converted | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| die hamer (hammer) | hamer (to hammer) | noun → verb |
| die fiets (bicycle) | fiets (to cycle) | noun → verb |
| die werk (the work) | werk (to work) | noun → verb |
| loop (to walk) | die loop (the gait/course) | verb → noun |
| oud (old) | die ou (the guy/old one) | adjective → noun |
| groot (big) | die grootte (the size) | adjective → noun |
Hy fiets elke oggend werk toe.
He cycles to work every morning.
Kan jy hierdie spyker vir my inhamer?
Can you hammer this nail in for me?
Nouns becoming verbs
This is the most common and most productive direction. Take almost any concrete noun that names a tool, a vehicle, or an activity, and you can usually verb it: hamer (hammer it), fiets (cycle), borsel (brush), verf (paint), foto (photograph). The converted verb then behaves like any ordinary regular verb — and that includes its past tense.
The key thing for a learner: the new verb takes the regular het ge- perfect, with the ge- prefixed straight onto the unchanged form.
| Noun | Verb (infinitive) | Perfect |
|---|---|---|
| die hamer | hamer | het gehamer |
| die fiets | fiets | het gefiets |
| die borsel | borsel | het geborsel |
| die verf | verf | het geverf |
Ons het die hele middag aan die motor gehamer.
We hammered away at the car all afternoon.
Sy het haar hare geborsel voor sy uitgegaan het.
She brushed her hair before she went out.
Verbs becoming nouns
The reverse is just as natural. A bare verb can be used as a noun, usually with the article die (or 'n): die loop (the walk/course/gait), die val (the fall), 'n stamp (a shove/bump), die slaap (sleep). These are everyday and not at all "clever" — they are simply how the noun is formed.
Die val het hom 'n week in die hospitaal gekos.
The fall cost him a week in hospital.
Sy het hom 'n harde stamp gegee toe sy verby is.
She gave him a hard shove as she went past.
Adjectives becoming nouns
Afrikaans also turns adjectives into nouns by conversion, especially in casual speech. die ou (literally "the old [one]") is the everyday word for "the guy / the bloke"; die grote or die grootte turns "big" into a noun. The adjective simply takes an article and stands where a noun would.
Wie is daardie ou met die rooi pet?
Who's that guy with the red cap?
Watter grootte skoen dra jy?
What size shoe do you wear?
The living edge: absorbing English loan-verbs
Here is what makes conversion worth a whole page rather than a footnote: it is the engine that lets Afrikaans verb English loanwords instantly. When a new English word enters the language as a noun, conversion turns it into a fully Afrikaans verb on the spot — no suffix, no adaptation, just ge- for the past. This is a genuinely living, everyday process, especially online and in technical registers.
| Loan base | Verb | Perfect | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| het gegoogle | to google | ||
| het gewhatsapp | to message on WhatsApp | ||
| SMS | sms | het ge-sms | to text |
| download | download | het gedownload | to download |
Ek het sy naam gegoogle, maar niks gekry nie.
I googled his name but found nothing.
Whatsapp my net die adres, dan kom ek.
Just WhatsApp me the address, then I'll come.
Sy het die hele aand op haar foon gewhatsapp.
She was WhatsApping on her phone all evening.
Note the spelling detail: when the loan stem starts with a vowel, an awkward cluster, or a capital, writers often insert a hyphen after ge- (ge-sms, ge-update) to keep it readable; otherwise it joins solid (gegoogle, gedownload). For the conventions on writing these forms, see loanword spelling.
Register: where conversion lives
Conversion ranges from fully neutral to markedly casual. Native conversions like werk, hamer, loop, val are register-neutral and appear everywhere, including formal writing. The English loan-verbs (google, whatsapp) are informal and conversational — perfectly normal in speech, texting, and journalism, but you would avoid them in a formal report, where a native phrasing is preferred. Knowing this line is the difference between sounding natural and sounding sloppy.
Common mistakes
❌ Ek het gegoogeld sy naam.
Incorrect — don't add an English -ed; the Afrikaans past is ge- on the bare form: het gegoogle.
✅ Ek het sy naam gegoogle.
I googled his name.
❌ Hy fietser elke dag.
Incorrect — no -er or other ending is needed; the verb is the bare noun: hy fiets elke dag.
✅ Hy fiets elke dag.
He cycles every day.
❌ Ons het die motor gehameren.
Incorrect — no Dutch/plural ending; the regular past is het gehamer.
✅ Ons het aan die motor gehamer.
We hammered at the car.
❌ Sy het haar hare borsel.
Incorrect — the past needs the ge- participle: het geborsel.
✅ Sy het haar hare geborsel.
She brushed her hair.
Key takeaways
- Conversion changes a word's part of speech with no affix — die hamer (noun) → hamer (verb).
- It works in both directions: noun → verb (fiets, werk), verb → noun (die loop, 'n stamp), adjective → noun (die ou, die grootte).
- A converted verb is fully regular: build its past with ge-
- the bare form (gehamer, gefiets).
- Conversion is the living engine for English loan-verbs — google → gegoogle, whatsapp → gewhatsapp — highly productive online and in technical speech.
- Native conversions are register-neutral; the loan-verbs are informal — fine in speech and journalism, avoided in formal writing.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
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- Spelling Loanwords and InternationalismsB1 — How Afrikaans adapts borrowed spellings — nativising some words fully, keeping foreign letters in others, and always attaching native endings on top.
- Word Formation: OverviewA2 — Afrikaans builds new words with a small but powerful toolkit — a pervasive diminutive, solid compounding, prefixes and suffixes, and a distinctive reduplication that English handles with separate words.
- Derivational Prefixes: on-, ver-, be-, her-, wan-B2 — How Afrikaans builds new words with prefixes — negative on-, verb-forming ver-/be-/ont-/her-, and pejorative wan-/mis- — and why the inseparable prefixes that block ge- in the past are exactly the ones here.
- Blends, Clippings and New WordsC1 — Afrikaans coins new words by clipping long ones, blending two into one, and adapting English borrowings — and every coinage instantly takes the full Afrikaans inflectional apparatus, plurals and diminutives included.