Die koelhouer is byna leeg.

to be

Breakdown of Die koelhouer is byna leeg.

• leeg: empty
• die koelhouer: cooler box
• byna: almost; nearly

Questions & Answers about Die koelhouer is byna leeg.

What does koelhouer mean literally?

Koelhouer is a compound noun:

• koel = cool
• houer = container / holder

So literally it means cool-container. In natural English, that would usually be cooler, cool box, or ice chest.

Afrikaans uses compound words very often, much like Dutch and German.

Why is the sentence starting with Die?

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

So:

• die koelhouer = the cooler

It is capitalized here only because it is the first word of the sentence. Afrikaans does not capitalize all nouns the way German does.

Also, die is used for both singular and plural nouns, so context and the noun form tell you whether it is the cooler or the coolers.

Is koelhouer singular or plural here?

It is singular here.

Why?

• koelhouer = singular
• koelhouers = plural

So Die koelhouer is byna leeg means The cooler is almost empty, not The coolers are almost empty.