Ons lees die vertaling.

We read the translation.

Breakdown of Ons lees die vertaling.

• ons: we
• lees: to read
• die vertaling: translation

Questions & Answers about Ons lees die vertaling.

What does ons mean here, and can it ever mean something else?

Here ons means we, because it is the subject of the sentence: Ons lees ...

A useful thing to know is that ons can also mean our in other sentences, for example:

• ons boek = our book

So learners often have to use the position in the sentence to understand it. Before the verb, as in Ons lees, it is clearly we.

Why is the verb lees used with ons? Shouldn’t it change like English read/reads?

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change form according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• Ek lees = I read / I am reading
• Jy lees = you read / are reading
• Hy lees = he reads / is reading
• Ons lees = we read / are reading

This is much simpler than English, where you have I read but he reads.

What does die mean in this sentence?