Die oplaaispoed is hetsy hoog hetsy laag.

to be

Breakdown of Die oplaaispoed is hetsy hoog hetsy laag.

• laag: low
• hoog: high
• hetsy ... hetsy ...: whether ... or ... (formal)

Questions & Answers about Die oplaaispoed is hetsy hoog hetsy laag.

What does oplaaispoed mean, and why is it written as one word?

Oplaaispoed means upload speed.

It is written as one word because Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns by joining words together. Here:

• oplaai = to upload
• spoed = speed

So oplaaispoed is literally upload-speed.

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often writes these as two words, but Afrikaans usually prefers one compound word.

What is die doing at the beginning?

Die here means the.

So:

• Die oplaaispoed = The upload speed

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for all genders and for both singular and plural in many cases, so it is much simpler than English in that respect.

What does hetsy ... hetsy ... mean?