Breakdown of Die betaaldatum volg ná die betaaltydperk.
ná
after
volg
to follow
die betaaltydperk
pay period
die betaaldatum
payment date
Questions & Answers about Die betaaldatum volg ná die betaaltydperk.
Why is betaaldatum written as one word?
Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns by joining words together.
So:
- betaal = pay / payment
- datum = date
- betaaldatum = payment date / pay date
The same thing happens in:
- betaaltydperk = pay period
- werksdag = workday
- skoolhoof = school principal
For English speakers, this is very common to notice because English often writes these as two words, while Afrikaans usually prefers one combined word.
What does die mean here, and why does it appear twice?
Die here means the.
It appears twice because Afrikaans uses the definite article separately before each noun:
- die betaaldatum = the payment date
- die betaaltydperk = the pay period
Unlike some languages, Afrikaans does not change die for gender. It is the same for masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns, and also commonly used for plural definite nouns.
Why is the verb volg so short? Shouldn’t it change like English follows?