Die danstempo is stadig.

to be

Breakdown of Die danstempo is stadig.

• stadig: slow
• die danstempo: dance tempo

Questions & Answers about Die danstempo is stadig.

What does die mean here?

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, so it usually means the.

In this sentence, die danstempo = the dance tempo.

A useful point for English speakers: Afrikaans uses die for all nouns, regardless of gender or number. So unlike languages such as German, you do not have to learn different forms like the for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.

Is danstempo one word because Afrikaans likes compound nouns?

Yes. Afrikaans very often forms compound nouns by joining words together.

So:

• dans = dance
• tempo = tempo
• danstempo = dance tempo

This is extremely common in Afrikaans. English sometimes writes these as two words, but Afrikaans often prefers one combined word.

Why is the word order Die danstempo is stadig?

This is the normal word order for a simple statement in Afrikaans:

subject + verb + complement

So here:

• Die danstempo = subject
• is = verb
• stadig = description/complement

It works very much like English:

• The dance tempo is slow.

Afrikaans main clauses often look pleasantly familiar to English speakers in simple sentences like this one.