Sinopsisse som op; met ander woorde, hulle beskryf intriges.

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Breakdown of Sinopsisse som op; met ander woorde, hulle beskryf intriges.

• beskryf: to describe
• met ander woorde: in other words
• die intrige: plot of a story

Questions & Answers about Sinopsisse som op; met ander woorde, hulle beskryf intriges.

Why is there no die before sinopsisse?

Afrikaans often leaves out the article when talking about things in a general sense, just like English can say Synopses summarize rather than The synopses summarize.

So:

• Sinopsisse som op = synopses summarize, in general
• Die sinopsisse som op = the synopses summarize, meaning specific ones

What is the singular of sinopsisse, and why does the plural look like that?

The singular is sinopsis and the plural is sinopsisse.

This pattern is common with some borrowed words ending in -sis. The plural often becomes -sisse:

• sinopsis → sinopsisse
• compare also basis → basisse

So even though it may look unusual at first, it is a normal plural pattern for this kind of word.

Why is opsom split into som op?

Because opsom is a separable verb.

The dictionary form is opsom, meaning to summarize. In a main clause, Afrikaans often splits this type of verb:

• Sinopsisse som op

Here:

• som is the verb part that goes into the normal verb position
• op moves to the end of the clause

This is very common in Afrikaans with separable verbs.

Why is at the end of the clause?