Die katoenklere is droog.

to be

Breakdown of Die katoenklere is droog.

• droog: dry
• die katoenklere: cotton clothing

Questions & Answers about Die katoenklere is droog.

Why is die used here, and does it mean the for both singular and plural?

Yes. Die is the definite article in Afrikaans, and it is used for both singular and plural nouns.

So Afrikaans does not change the definite article the way English sometimes shows number in other parts of the sentence. You use:

• die boek = the book
• die boeke = the books
• die katoenklere = the cotton clothes

It also does not change for grammatical gender, because Afrikaans does not have the kind of masculine/feminine/neuter article system that some other languages do.

Is katoenklere really one word?

Yes. Afrikaans very often writes compound nouns as one word, just like Dutch and German often do.

So:

• katoen = cotton
• klere = clothes
• katoenklere = cotton clothes / cotton clothing

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often writes similar ideas as separate words, but Afrikaans commonly combines them into a single compound noun.

Other examples of this pattern would be things like:

• skoolklere = school clothes
• winterklere = winter clothes

Why is it is and not something like are, since klere is plural?