Die biblioteekeksemplaar is in die biblioteek.

to be

Breakdown of Die biblioteekeksemplaar is in die biblioteek.

• in: in
• die biblioteek: the library
• die biblioteekeksemplaar: library copy

Questions & Answers about Die biblioteekeksemplaar is in die biblioteek.

Is die pronounced like the English word die?

No. In Afrikaans, die is usually pronounced roughly like dee, not like English die.

That often surprises English speakers, because the spelling looks familiar but the sound is different.

What does die do in this sentence, and why is it used twice?

Die is the definite article, so it means the.

It appears twice because there are two nouns that are definite:

• die biblioteekeksemplaar = the library copy
• die biblioteek = the library

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans uses die for all genders, and also for plural definite nouns. So it is much simpler than article systems in many other languages.

Why is biblioteekeksemplaar written as one long word?

Because Afrikaans very commonly forms compound nouns by joining words together.

So:

• biblioteek = library
• eksemplaar = copy / экземпляр-like sense of copy
• biblioteekeksemplaar = library copy

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English sometimes writes similar ideas as separate words, but Afrikaans often prefers one compound word.