Die paspoortafskrif is beskikbaar.

The passport copy is available.

Breakdown of Die paspoortafskrif is beskikbaar.

• wees: to be
• beskikbaar: available
• die paspoortafskrif: passport copy

Questions & Answers about Die paspoortafskrif is beskikbaar.

What does die mean here?

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

A useful thing for English speakers to know is that Afrikaans does not have different forms like the for gender. The same word die is used for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

So die paspoortafskrif = the passport copy / the copy of the passport.

Why is paspoortafskrif written as one word?

Because Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns by joining words together.

Here:

• paspoort = passport
• afskrif = copy / transcript

So:

• paspoortafskrif = passport copy

English often writes this as two words or with of, but Afrikaans commonly prefers one compound word.

What exactly does afskrif mean?