Die verkeersbeampte lees die nommerplaat.

The traffic officer reads the licence plate.

Breakdown of Die verkeersbeampte lees die nommerplaat.

• lees: to read
• die nommerplaat: licence plate
• die verkeersbeampte: traffic officer

Questions & Answers about Die verkeersbeampte lees die nommerplaat.

Why does die appear twice in the sentence?

In Afrikaans, die is the definite article for the. It does not change for gender, and in the singular it is used for all nouns.

So in Die verkeersbeampte lees die nommerplaat, the first die means the before traffic officer, and the second die means the before number plate.

This is simpler than in many European languages because Afrikaans does not have different words for masculine, feminine, or neuter the.

Does die mean the or these/those?

It can mean both, depending on context.

In this sentence, die clearly means the, because it appears before singular nouns:

• die verkeersbeampte = the traffic officer
• die nommerplaat = the number plate

Afrikaans also uses die as a demonstrative in some contexts, but here it is just the ordinary definite article.

Is verkeersbeampte really one word?