Learn Hardcore Afrikaans: Ons volg die wedlooproete van die wegspringplek tot die eindstreep. - We follow the race route from the starting point to the finish line.

Ons volg die wedlooproete van die wegspringplek tot die eindstreep.

We follow the race route from the starting point to the finish line.

Breakdown of Ons volg die wedlooproete van die wegspringplek tot die eindstreep.

Questions & Answers about Ons volg die wedlooproete van die wegspringplek tot die eindstreep.

Why does die appear three times in this sentence?

In Afrikaans, die is the definite article, meaning the. It is used for:

singular nouns: die roete
plural nouns: die roetes
all genders: Afrikaans does not distinguish grammatical gender the way some languages do

So in this sentence:

die wedlooproete = the race route
die wegspringplek = the starting place / starting point
die eindstreep = the finish line

Unlike English, Afrikaans uses the same article form everywhere here.

Is wedlooproete really one word?

Yes. Afrikaans very often writes compound nouns as a single word.

So:

wedloop = race
roete = route
wedlooproete = race route

This is extremely common in Afrikaans. English often writes these as separate words, but Afrikaans prefers one combined word. The same thing happens with:

wegspringplek
eindstreep

If you are unsure, it is often a good guess that Afrikaans will join the parts into one noun.

How does volg work here, and does the verb change with the subject?