Sowat vyf musikante kom.

About five musicians are coming.

Breakdown of Sowat vyf musikante kom.

• kom: to come
• vyf: five
• die musikant: musician
• sowat: approximately; about

Questions & Answers about Sowat vyf musikante kom.

What does sowat mean in this sentence?

Sowat means about, around, or approximately.

So Sowat vyf musikante kom means something like About five musicians are coming or Around five musicians come/are coming, depending on context.

It is used when the number is not exact.

Why is it sowat vyf and not vyf sowat?

In Afrikaans, words like sowat normally come before the number they modify.

So:

• sowat vyf = about five
• sowat tien = about ten

This is similar to English, where we also say about five, not five about.

Why is there no word for the or some before vyf musikante?

Afrikaans often does not use an article where English might use one.

In a phrase like vyf musikante, the number already makes the noun phrase definite enough in meaning, so no extra word is needed.

So:

• vyf musikante = five musicians
• not something like die vyf musikante unless you specifically mean the five musicians