Die produk is goedkoop.

The product is cheap.

Breakdown of Die produk is goedkoop.

• wees: to be
• goedkoop: cheap
• die produk: product

Questions & Answers about Die produk is goedkoop.

What does die mean here? Is it really the same word as English die?

Here die means the.

It is not the English verb die. In Afrikaans, die is the normal definite article, used for the.

So:

• die produk = the product

A native English speaker often wants to pronounce it like English die, but in Afrikaans it is pronounced more like dee.

Why is it die and not different words for masculine, feminine, or plural nouns?

Afrikaans is much simpler than many European languages in this respect. It does not normally use different definite articles for grammatical gender.

So die can mean the with:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• nouns that would be masculine or feminine in other languages

Examples:

• die produk = the product
• die produkte = the products

That is one reason Afrikaans articles are easier for English speakers than, for example, German or Dutch articles.

What does produk mean, and is it related to English product?

Yes. Produk means product, and it is clearly related to the English word.

Like many Afrikaans words, it looks familiar to English speakers because both languages have borrowed a lot of vocabulary from similar sources.

So in this sentence:

• produk = product