Die komitee wys 'n voorsitter aan.

Because the full verb is aanwys, which is a separable verb in Afrikaans.

In a normal main clause, the conjugated part goes near the front and the separable part moves to the end:

• Die komitee wys 'n voorsitter aan.

But when the verb is not split, it stays together:

• ... om 'n voorsitter aan te wys
• ... dat die komitee 'n voorsitter aanwys

This is very common in Afrikaans and is something English speakers often need time to get used to.

'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, so it means a or an.

So:

• 'n voorsitter = a chairperson / a chair

A few important things about 'n:

• It is always written in lowercase, even if it starts a sentence.
• At the beginning of a sentence, the next word gets the capital letter:
  • 'n Voorsitter is aangewys.
• It is usually pronounced very weakly, like a neutral uh sound.

They are two different articles:

• die = the
• 'n = a / an

So here:

• Die komitee = the committee
• 'n voorsitter = a chairperson

This means we are talking about a specific committee, but not yet a specific chairperson.

Usually, no. Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs in this way.

In the present tense, the verb usually stays the same regardless of the subject:

• Ek wys
• Jy wys
• Hy wys
• Ons wys
• Die komitee wys

So Afrikaans does not usually add an -s like English shows.

In this sentence, komitee is singular: the committee.

Even though a committee is made up of several people, grammatically it is treated as one unit here. That is why the sentence uses a singular idea: The committee appoints a chairperson.

If you wanted the plural, you would use komitees:

• Die komitees wys voorsitters aan.

Voorsitter usually means chairperson, chair, or sometimes chairman, depending on context and translation style.

In modern Afrikaans, voorsitter is generally treated as gender-neutral. So it does not automatically mean a man.

That is why chairperson is often the safest English translation if you want to avoid adding gender.

No. Aanwys can have a few related meanings, depending on context, such as:

• appoint
• designate
• nominate
• indicate
• point out

In this sentence, because the object is 'n voorsitter, the meaning is naturally appoint or designate.

So wys ... aan here is not just the simple verb show. The full verb aanwys has its own meaning.

Because 'n voorsitter is the direct object of aanwys here.

Afrikaans can simply say:

• Die komitee wys 'n voorsitter aan.

That means the committee appoints a chairperson.

If you were talking about appointing someone as chairperson, then as could appear:

• Die komitee wys Maria as voorsitter aan.

So:

• 'n voorsitter aanwys = appoint a chairperson
• iemand as voorsitter aanwys = appoint someone as chairperson

You would normally use het plus the past participle:

• Die komitee het 'n voorsitter aangewys.

Here, the past participle of aanwys is aangewys.

So the pattern is:

• present: wys ... aan
• past: het ... aangewys

This is a very useful pattern to learn for separable verbs.

In a subordinate clause, the verb usually moves to the end and the separable verb stays together:

• Ek weet dat die komitee 'n voorsitter aanwys.
• Hulle hoop dat die komitee môre 'n voorsitter sal aanwys.

Compare that with the main clause:

• Die komitee wys 'n voorsitter aan.

So one important contrast is:

• main clause: verb split
• subordinate clause: verb together

Usually, no. 'n is normally pronounced very lightly, like uh.

So 'n voorsitter sounds roughly like:

• uhn FOOR-sit-ter

The article is usually unstressed. Native speakers often say it very quickly.

That makes it different from English, where a and an are written differently. Afrikaans uses just 'n in both cases.

No. Afrikaans does not capitalize all nouns.

Die is capitalized here only because it is the first word of the sentence.

So:

• die komitee in the middle of a sentence
• Die komitee at the start of a sentence

Unlike German, words like komitee and voorsitter are normally written with lowercase letters unless they begin a sentence or are part of a proper name.