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Learn Hardcore Afrikaans: Die leeslys is gereed. - The reading list is ready.

Hardcore Afrikaans
/Starting a neighbourhood book club
/Die leeslys is gereed.

Die leeslys is gereed.

Word

Die leeslys is gereed.

Meaning

The reading list is ready.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Afrikaans

Lesson

Starting a neighbourhood book club

Breakdown of Die leeslys is gereed.

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Questions & Answers about Die leeslys is gereed.

What does die mean here?

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

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans uses die for both singular and plural nouns:

die leeslys = the reading list
die boeke = the books

It does not change for gender, so you do not need different forms like masculine or feminine articles.

Does Afrikaans have grammatical gender in a sentence like this?

No. In modern Afrikaans, nouns do not normally take different articles based on gender.

So die works the same whether the noun would be masculine, feminine, or neuter in some other languages. That makes sentences like Die leeslys is gereed simpler for learners.

Why is leeslys written as one word?

Because it is a compound noun. Afrikaans often joins words together to make one noun, much like Dutch and German.

Leeslys is made from:

lees = read / reading
lys = list

So leeslys literally means something like reading-list, written as one word.

Why is it leeslys and not a form meaning reading list with an -ing ending?

Afrikaans often uses the basic verb stem inside compounds, where English might use an -ing form.

So English says:

reading list

But Afrikaans says:

leeslys

This is very normal. Other compounds work the same way.

What does is mean here, and does it change for different people?

Is is the present-tense form of wees, meaning to be.

A nice feature of Afrikaans is that is stays the same for all persons:

ek is = I am
jy is = you are
hy/sy is = he/she is
ons is = we are
hulle is = they are

So Afrikaans is simpler than English in this respect.

What does gereed mean exactly?

Gereed usually means ready, prepared, or sometimes finished and ready for use, depending on context.

In Die leeslys is gereed, the idea is that the reading list has been prepared and is now ready.

Why does gereed come after is?

Because gereed is a predicate adjective: it describes the subject after the verb is.

This pattern is very common in Afrikaans:

Die boek is nuut. = The book is new.
Die kos is warm. = The food is warm.
Die leeslys is gereed. = The reading list is ready.

Why doesn’t gereed have an ending like -e?

After is, adjectives normally stay in their basic form.

So you say:

Die leeslys is gereed.
Die boek is oud.

When an adjective comes before a noun, it often takes -e:

die ou boek = the old book

So the form gereed is exactly what you would expect here.

Is the word order always this similar to English?

In a simple statement like this, yes. The structure is very close to English:

subject: Die leeslys
verb: is
adjective: gereed

So it matches The reading list is ready very neatly.

However, word order can change in questions and subordinate clauses.

How do I turn this into a question?

For a yes/no question, Afrikaans usually puts the verb first:

Is die leeslys gereed? = Is the reading list ready?

That verb-first pattern is very common.

What happens if this sentence appears after dat?

In a clause introduced by dat, the verb usually moves to the end:

Ek weet dat die leeslys gereed is. = I know that the reading list is ready.

Compare:

main clause: Die leeslys is gereed.
dat-clause: dat die leeslys gereed is

How would I say a reading list or the reading lists?

You can change the article or the noun:

'n leeslys = a reading list
die leeslyste = the reading lists

So you get:

'n leeslys is gereed. = A reading list is ready.
Die leeslyste is gereed. = The reading lists are ready.

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