Die tegnologie is nuut.

to be

Breakdown of Die tegnologie is nuut.

• nuut: new
• die tegnologie: technology

Questions & Answers about Die tegnologie is nuut.

What does die mean here? Is it the same as English the?

Yes. In this sentence, die means the.

So:

• die tegnologie = the technology

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans uses die as the definite article much more broadly than English uses the. Unlike some other languages, Afrikaans does not change the for gender, so you do not have to learn different forms like masculine or feminine articles.

Why is die spelled like English die if it means the?

It only looks familiar to an English speaker. In Afrikaans, die is a very common article meaning the, and it is not related in meaning to the English verb to die.

Its pronunciation is also different from the English word die. In Afrikaans, die is usually pronounced more like dee.

Is tegnologie just the same word as English technology?

More or less, yes. Tegnologie is the Afrikaans word for technology.

It is a helpful cognate, but notice the spelling differences:

• English: technology
• Afrikaans: tegnologie

A learner may notice that Afrikaans often has spellings that look a bit more phonetic than English.

Why is the sentence order Die tegnologie is nuut? Is it the same as English word order?