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?

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not change the article for gender. So:

  • die man = the man
  • die vrou = the woman
  • die kind = the child

In this sentence, Die gesondheidsvraelys means The health questionnaire.

What does wys mean here?

Wys usually means shows or indicates.

In this sentence, it means that the questionnaire shows / indicates that there is no infectious disease.

So a natural English sense is:

  • The health questionnaire shows no infectious disease
  • or The health questionnaire indicates no infectious disease
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?

Because geen already does that job.

In English, we say no infectious disease, not no an infectious disease. Afrikaans works the same way here.

So:

  • geen siekte nie = no disease
  • geen aansteeklike siekte nie = no infectious disease

You do not add 'n after geen.

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?

In standard Afrikaans negation, the second nie often appears near the end of the clause.

That is why the sentence is:

  • Die gesondheidsvraelys wys geen aansteeklike siekte nie.

This final nie helps mark the whole statement as negative.

English speakers often want to stop after geen aansteeklike siekte, but in Afrikaans the ending nie is normally required.

What is the basic word order in this sentence?

This is a normal main clause with the verb in the second position:

  • Die gesondheidsvraelys = subject
  • wys = verb
  • geen aansteeklike siekte = object
  • nie = final negative marker

So the pattern is roughly:

Subject + Verb + Object + nie

That is very typical Afrikaans word order for a simple statement.

Is siekte the same as siek?

No. They are related, but they are different parts of speech.

  • siek = sick, ill
  • siekte = disease, illness

So in this sentence:

  • aansteeklike siekte = infectious disease

You would not use siek here, because the sentence needs a noun, not an adjective.

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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