Questions & Answers about Sy praat oor haar vrees.
Why is Sy used here, and what exactly does it mean?
Here Sy means she and is the subject of the sentence.
A useful thing to know is that sy in Afrikaans can also mean his, so beginners sometimes get confused. In this sentence, though, it must mean she because it comes before the verb praat and functions as the person doing the action.
So:
- Sy praat = She talks / She is talking
- sy boek = his book
Context tells you which meaning is intended.
Why does the sentence use haar later if Sy already means she?
Because Sy and haar do different jobs.
- Sy = subject pronoun: she
- haar = possessive determiner or object pronoun: her
In haar vrees, haar means her in the sense of possession: her fear.
So the structure is:
- Sy = she
- praat oor = talks about
- haar vrees = her fear
This is similar to English:
- She talks about her fear.
Why is the verb not changed to match ?