Die langtermynberging is duur.

to be

Breakdown of Die langtermynberging is duur.

• duur: expensive
• die langtermynberging: long-term storage

Questions & Answers about Die langtermynberging is duur.

What does die mean here? Is it just English the?

Yes. Die is the Afrikaans definite article, so here it corresponds to English the.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans uses die for all nouns. It does not change for gender, and it is also used for plural nouns. That makes it much simpler than articles in many other European languages.

Why is langtermynberging written as one word?

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

So:

• lang = long
• termyn = term
• berging = storage

Together, they form one compound noun: langtermynberging = long-term storage.

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often uses separate words or a hyphen where Afrikaans prefers one combined word.

Is langtermyn an adjective here?

Not by itself in this sentence. In langtermynberging, langtermyn is functioning as the first part of a compound noun, not as a separate adjective sitting in front of a noun.

So instead of thinking:

• adjective + noun

it is better to think:

• one compound noun = langtermynberging

That is a very common pattern in Afrikaans.