Die kruisbesmetting is erg.

to be

Breakdown of Die kruisbesmetting is erg.

• die kruisbesmetting: cross-contamination
• erg: severe; serious

Questions & Answers about Die kruisbesmetting is erg.

What does die mean here?

Here die means the.

So Die kruisbesmetting = the cross-contamination.

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for all nouns, regardless of gender. Unlike languages such as German or Dutch, Afrikaans does not have different definite articles like de/het or der/die/das.

Why is kruisbesmetting written as one word?

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns by writing them as a single word.

So:

• kruis = cross
• besmetting = contamination / infection

Together:

• kruisbesmetting = cross-contamination

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often writes similar ideas as two words or with a hyphen, but Afrikaans usually joins them into one noun.

What part of speech is kruisbesmetting?