Die agtergrond is onskerp.

to be

Breakdown of Die agtergrond is onskerp.

• die agtergrond: background
• onskerp: out of focus; unsharp

Questions & Answers about Die agtergrond is onskerp.

What does die mean here, and is it always the?

Yes. In this sentence, die means the.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans uses die for the with all nouns:

• die man = the man
• die vrou = the woman
• die huis = the house

Unlike languages such as German, Afrikaans does not change the definite article for gender or case. So die is very straightforward.

What does agtergrond literally mean?

Agtergrond literally breaks down as:

• agter = behind / back
• grond = ground / background / base

Together, agtergrond means background.

It is used both:

• literally, as in a photo or image
• figuratively, as in someone’s background or history

In this sentence, it refers to the visual background.

Why is it Die agtergrond is onskerp and not something with a different word order?

This is the normal basic Afrikaans sentence pattern:

subject + verb + complement

So:

• Die agtergrond = subject
• is = verb
• onskerp = complement/adjective

Afrikaans main clauses usually put the finite verb in the second position. In a simple statement like this, that gives you:

Die agtergrond is onskerp.

This is very similar to English: The background is blurry.