Die kornea en die retina is in die oog.

The cornea and the retina are in the eye.

Breakdown of Die kornea en die retina is in die oog.

• wees: to be
• in: in
• en: and
• die oog: the eye

Questions & Answers about Die kornea en die retina is in die oog.

What does die mean here, and why does it appear three times?

Die means the.

It appears before kornea, retina, and oog because all three nouns are being used definitely:

• die kornea = the cornea
• die retina = the retina
• die oog = the eye

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for all genders, and also for both singular and plural nouns. So unlike in some other languages, the article does not change form.

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Why is the verb is used even though die kornea en die retina refers to two things?

In Afrikaans, the present tense of wees (to be) is is for all persons and numbers.

So you get:

• ek is = I am
• jy is = you are
• hy/sy is = he/she is
• ons is = we are
• hulle is = they are

That means is is correct even with a compound subject like die kornea en die retina.

This is different from English, where you must switch between am / is / are.

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Is the word order normal in this sentence?