Breakdown of Die gesondheidsvraelys wys geen aansteeklike siekte nie.
Questions & Answers about Die gesondheidsvraelys wys geen aansteeklike siekte nie.
What does gesondheidsvraelys mean, and how is it built?
It is a compound noun, which is very common in Afrikaans.
- gesondheid = health
- vraelys = questionnaire
So gesondheidsvraelys means health questionnaire.
The -s- in the middle links the two parts. English often writes these as separate words, but Afrikaans very often joins them into one word.
Why does the sentence begin with Die?
What does wys mean here?
Why does Afrikaans use geen ... nie here?
This is one of the most important features of Afrikaans negation.
Geen means no / not any, and the final nie completes the negative structure.
So:
- geen aansteeklike siekte nie = no infectious disease
Afrikaans often uses a kind of double negative structure, but it does not mean a positive. It is just the normal way to make a sentence negative.
Compare:
- Ek sien die hond. = I see the dog.
- Ek sien nie die hond nie. = I do not see the dog.
- Ek sien geen hond nie. = I see no dog / I do not see any dog.
Why is there no article before aansteeklike siekte?
Why is there an -e on aansteeklike?
Because aansteeklike is an attributive adjective: it comes before the noun siekte.
In Afrikaans, adjectives before nouns often take -e.
- 'n aansteeklike siekte = an infectious disease
- die aansteeklike siekte = the infectious disease
But when the adjective comes after the verb, it is often in its basic form:
- Die siekte is aansteeklik. = The disease is infectious.
So:
- aansteeklik = base form
- aansteeklike = form used before a noun
Why is nie at the very end of the sentence?
What is the basic word order in this sentence?
Is siekte the same as siek?
Could this sentence also be translated as The health questionnaire does not show any infectious disease?
Yes. That is a very natural English translation.
Because geen can correspond to:
- no
- not any
So these English versions are all close in meaning:
- The health questionnaire shows no infectious disease.
- The health questionnaire does not show any infectious disease.
- The health questionnaire indicates no infectious disease.
The exact English wording may vary, but the Afrikaans structure stays the same.
How would the sentence change if it were positive instead of negative?
A positive version would remove the negative markers:
- Die gesondheidsvraelys wys 'n aansteeklike siekte. = The health questionnaire shows an infectious disease.
Notice the difference:
- geen ... nie = no / not any
- 'n = a / an
So the negative sentence is not just adding one word; it uses the full Afrikaans negative pattern.
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