Die opstanding is belangrik.

The resurrection is important.

Breakdown of Die opstanding is belangrik.

• wees: to be
• belangrik: important
• die opstanding: resurrection

Questions & Answers about Die opstanding is belangrik.

Why does the sentence start with Die? Does it mean the?

Yes. Die is the Afrikaans definite article, so here it means the.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular definite nouns: die man = the man
• plural definite nouns: die mans = the men

So in this sentence, Die opstanding means the resurrection.

Is die pronounced like the English verb die?

No. In Afrikaans, die is usually pronounced roughly like dee.

So:

• Afrikaans die = dee
• English die = different vowel sound

This is a very common point of confusion for English speakers.

Why is Die capitalized?

It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

Afrikaans does not capitalize articles in the middle of a sentence. So you would write:

• Die opstanding is belangrik.
• Ek onthou die opstanding.

In the second example, die is lowercase because it is not at the beginning.