Die beginsel is belangrik.

to be

Breakdown of Die beginsel is belangrik.

• belangrik: important
• die beginsel: principle

Questions & Answers about Die beginsel is belangrik.

What does die mean here, and how do you pronounce it?

Here, die means the.

A very common beginner mistake is to read it like the English verb die. In Afrikaans, die is usually pronounced like dee.

So:

• die beginsel = the principle

Also, Afrikaans uses die much more simply than languages like German or Dutch:

• die = the for singular nouns
• die = the for plural nouns too

So you do not have to learn different forms for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.

Why is it die beginsel and not some other article?

Because Afrikaans has a very simple definite article system.

For the, Afrikaans normally uses:

• die = the

Unlike English, Afrikaans also has an indefinite article:

• 'n = a / an

So compare:

• 'n beginsel = a principle
• die beginsel = the principle

In this sentence, die shows that it is talking about the principle, not just a principle.

Is beginsel related to the English word ?