Vreugde is belangrik.

to be

Breakdown of Vreugde is belangrik.

• belangrik: important
• die vreugde: joy

Questions & Answers about Vreugde is belangrik.

Why is vreugde at the beginning of the sentence?

Because Afrikaans, like English, normally uses subject + verb + complement in a simple statement.

• vreugde = the subject
• is = the verb
• belangrik = the complement/adjective

So Vreugde is belangrik follows the basic pattern Joy is important.

Why is there no word for the or a before vreugde?

Vreugde is being used as a general abstract noun, like joy in English.

In English, we often say:

• Joy is important not necessarily
• The joy is important

Afrikaans works similarly here. When you mean the idea of joy in general, you usually do not need an article.

If you wanted to refer to a specific joy, you might use die, but that would change the meaning.

Is is used the same way as English is?

Yes. In this sentence, is is the present tense of wees (to be) and works very much like English is.

So:

• Vreugde is belangrik = Joy is important

This is one of the easier parts of the sentence for English speakers because it looks and functions very similarly.