Gebruik die rolstok vir die kleiplaat, in teenstelling met die kleirol.

Use the rolling pin for the clay slab, in contrast to the clay coil.

Breakdown of Gebruik die rolstok vir die kleiplaat, in teenstelling met die kleirol.

• vir: for
• gebruik: to use
• in teenstelling met ...: in contrast to
• die rolstok: rolling pin

Questions & Answers about Gebruik die rolstok vir die kleiplaat, in teenstelling met die kleirol.

Why does the sentence start with Gebruik? Is that a command?

Yes. Gebruik is the imperative form here, so the sentence is giving an instruction: Use ...

Afrikaans often forms the imperative with the plain verb stem, without a subject pronoun. So:

• Gebruik die rolstok ... = Use the rolling pin ...
• You do not need to add jy.

This is very similar to English imperatives like Use this tool or Take the book.

Why is die used so many times?

In Afrikaans, die is the definite article for all nouns, whether singular or plural. It corresponds to English the.

So in this sentence:

• die rolstok = the rolling pin
• die kleiplaat = the clay slab
• die kleirol = the clay roller

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not change the article for gender, and unlike Dutch or German, there is no separate form like masculine/feminine/neuter definite articles. It is just die.

Why are rolstok, kleiplaat, and kleirol written as single words?