Vryheid is belangrik.

to be

Breakdown of Vryheid is belangrik.

• belangrik: important
• die vryheid: freedom; liberty

Questions & Answers about Vryheid is belangrik.

Why is there no word for the or a before vryheid?

In Afrikaans, abstract nouns are often used without an article when you mean them in a general sense. So Vryheid is belangrik means freedom in general is important.

If you were talking about a specific freedom, you might use die:

• Die vryheid is belangrik. = The freedom is important.

Is the word order the same as in English?

Yes. In this simple statement, the order is:

• Vryheid = subject
• is = verb
• belangrik = adjective/complement

So it works just like Freedom is important.

What does is mean here, and does it change like am / is / are in English?

Is is the present-tense form of the verb wees, which means to be.

A useful difference from English is that Afrikaans does not change this verb in the present tense the way English does:

• Ek is = I am
• Jy is = you are
• Hy is = he is
• Ons is = we are

So is is used very widely.

Why is vryheid one word, and what does -heid mean?