Hy lees die vers.

he

Breakdown of Hy lees die vers.

• lees: to read
• die vers: the verse

Questions & Answers about Hy lees die vers.

Why is it Hy and not something closer to English he?

Hy is the Afrikaans subject pronoun meaning he.

A few common pronouns are:

• ek = I
• jy = you
• hy = he
• sy = she
• ons = we
• hulle = they

So in Hy lees die vers, Hy is simply the subject: he.

Why is the verb lees not changed after hy?

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form according to the subject the way English verbs do.

In English, you say:

• I read
• you read
• he reads

In Afrikaans, it stays the same:

• ek lees
• jy lees
• hy lees

So lees works with ek, jy, hy, and so on, without adding an extra ending like English -s.

Does lees mean read, reads, or is reading?