Die notule bly vertroulik, hetsy die voorsitter dit lees hetsy nie.

The minutes remain confidential, whether the chairperson reads them or not.

Breakdown of Die notule bly vertroulik, hetsy die voorsitter dit lees hetsy nie.

• lees: to read
• nie: not
• dit: it
• bly: to remain

Questions & Answers about Die notule bly vertroulik, hetsy die voorsitter dit lees hetsy nie.

What does hetsy ... hetsy nie mean in this sentence?

It means whether ... or not.

So:

• hetsy die voorsitter dit lees hetsy nie = whether the chairperson reads it or not

A useful way to remember it is:

• hetsy X, hetsy nie = whether X or not

In this sentence, the second part leaves out repeated words. Fuller wording would be something like:

• hetsy die voorsitter dit lees, hetsy hy/sy dit nie lees nie

But Afrikaans often shortens this to just hetsy nie when the meaning is already clear.

Why is notule singular when English usually says minutes?

Because Afrikaans uses notule as a singular noun for the minutes or the record of a meeting.

So:

• die notule = the minutes

Even though English uses a plural-looking form, Afrikaans treats it as singular here. That is why the sentence uses singular grammar:

• Die notule bly vertroulik = The minutes remain confidential

If you wanted the plural minutes in the sense of several sets of meeting records, you could have notules, but in ordinary use die notule often refers to one set of meeting minutes.

Why is the pronoun dit used for ?