Die komitee bespreek die oorlog.

The committee discusses the war.

Breakdown of Die komitee bespreek die oorlog.

• bespreek: to discuss
• die komitee: committee
• die oorlog: war

Questions & Answers about Die komitee bespreek die oorlog.

Why is die used twice?

Because die means the in Afrikaans, and both komitee and oorlog are definite here:

• Die komitee = the committee
• die oorlog = the war

Afrikaans uses die for all genders and also for both singular and plural definite nouns, so it is much simpler than languages that change the article.

Does Die at the start mean something different from die later in the sentence?

No. It is the same word: die = the.

The first one is capitalized only because it begins the sentence:

• Die komitee ...
• later in the sentence: ... die oorlog

Why is the verb bespreek not changing for the committee? Shouldn’t it be like English discusses?

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• Ek bespreek = I discuss
• Jy bespreek = you discuss
• Die komitee bespreek = the committee discusses

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not add an -s for he/she/it or singular nouns in the present tense.

What is the basic word order in this sentence?