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Learn Hardcore Afrikaans: Die gebou is 'n eeu oud. - The building is a century old.

Hardcore Afrikaans
/Taking part in a committee meeting
/Die gebou is 'n eeu oud.

Die gebou is 'n eeu oud.

Word

Die gebou is 'n eeu oud.

Meaning

The building is a century old.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Afrikaans

Lesson

Taking part in a committee meeting

Breakdown of Die gebou is 'n eeu oud.

Questions & Answers about Die gebou is 'n eeu oud.

What does each word in Die gebou is 'n eeu oud mean?

A word-for-word breakdown is:

Die = the
gebou = building
is = is
'n = a / an
eeu = century
oud = old

So the structure is very close to English: The building is a century old.

Why does the sentence start with Die? Is that the same as Dutch or German articles?

Yes. Die here is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

Unlike German, Afrikaans articles do not change for gender or case. So you do not have to learn separate forms like der / die / das. In Afrikaans, die works for the in all ordinary situations.

In this sentence:

Die gebou = the building

How do I pronounce 'n, and why is there an apostrophe?

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'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, meaning a / an.

A few important points:

It is pronounced like a very short, unstressed uh sound, similar to the a in English about
The apostrophe is part of the spelling
It is almost never stressed in normal speech

So:

'n eeu sounds roughly like uh EE-oo

A useful writing note: 'n is normally written with a lowercase n, even if it appears at the beginning of a sentence.

What does eeu mean exactly?

Eeu means century.

So:

'n eeu = a century
'n eeu oud = a century old

This is a common way to talk about age in Afrikaans.

Why does Afrikaans say 'n eeu oud instead of something more literal like 100 years old?

Afrikaans can say both.

'n eeu oud = a century old
honderd jaar oud = a hundred years old

Both are natural. 'n eeu oud is just a slightly neater, more compact way to say the same thing.

Why is oud at the end of the sentence?

Because oud is functioning as a predicate adjective, after the linking verb is.

The pattern is:

subject + is + age expression + oud

So:

Die gebou is 'n eeu oud

This is normal in Afrikaans, just as English says:

The building is a century old

Why is it oud here, but I sometimes see ou before a noun?

Good question. This is a very common point for learners.

When old comes after the verb, Afrikaans uses oud:

Die gebou is oud = The building is old
Die gebou is 'n eeu oud = The building is a century old

But when the adjective comes before a noun, it is often ou:

'n ou gebou = an old building

So:

predicative position: oud
before a noun: often ou

This is one of those forms you simply get used to through exposure.

Is gebou related to the verb bou?

Yes. Bou means to build, and gebou as a noun means building.

So they are related:

bou = build
gebou = building

That makes the vocabulary easier to remember.

Be careful, though: gebou can also look like a verb form historically related to bou, but in this sentence it is clearly a noun meaning building.

How do I pronounce gebou and eeu?

A simple learner-friendly guide:

gebou ≈ khuh-BOU
- the g is the throaty Afrikaans/Dutch sound, not the English g
- bou rhymes roughly with English go? Not exactly. It is more like boh with a diphthong, often written approximately bow as in bow down
eeu ≈ EE-uh or EE-oo, depending on how fine-grained you want to be

So the whole sentence is roughly:

dee khuh-BOU is uh EE-uh out

That is only an approximation, but it is a useful starting point.

Is the word order basically the same as English here?

Yes, very much so.

The sentence follows a straightforward pattern:

Die gebou = subject
is = verb
'n eeu oud = complement

So Afrikaans and English match closely here:

The building is a century old
Die gebou is 'n eeu oud

This makes the sentence quite beginner-friendly.

Could I also say Die gebou is oud?

Yes, but it means something less specific.

Die gebou is oud = The building is old
Die gebou is 'n eeu oud = The building is a century old

The second sentence gives the age more precisely.

Why is there no plural marking, like years in English?

Because eeu already means century, which is a single unit of time.

English also does this:

a century old

You do not need to say years there either, because century already contains that meaning.

If you used jaar instead, then you would count years directly:

honderd jaar oud = a hundred years old

Can this sentence refer only to buildings, or could I use the same pattern for other things?

You can use the same pattern very widely.

Examples:

Die huis is vyftig jaar oud. = The house is fifty years old.
Die boom is twee eeue oud. = The tree is two centuries old.
Die tradisie is oud. = The tradition is old.

So the pattern is + time expression + oud is very useful in Afrikaans.

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