Die deurgrendel sluit die deur.

the door

Breakdown of Die deurgrendel sluit die deur.

• sluit: to close
• die deurgrendel: door latch

Questions & Answers about Die deurgrendel sluit die deur.

What does die mean here, and why is it used twice?

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, usually equivalent to English the.

It appears twice because there are two definite nouns in the sentence:

• die deurgrendel = the door bolt / latch
• die deur = the door

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not change the definite article for gender or number. It is just die in all these cases.

Is deurgrendel really one word?

Yes. Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns by writing them as one word.

So:

• deur = door
• grendel = bolt / latch
• deurgrendel = door bolt / door latch

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English sometimes writes similar ideas as two words, but Afrikaans often combines them into one.

Is the deur inside deurgrendel the same word as the second deur?