Die roep begin.

to begin

Breakdown of Die roep begin.

• die roep: bird call

Questions & Answers about Die roep begin.

What does die mean here, and is it pronounced like the English word die?

Here, die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

It is not pronounced like the English verb die. It is pronounced roughly like dee.

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans die is used much more broadly than English the in one respect: it works for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

So Afrikaans does not have separate words like the for masculine/feminine/neuter nouns.

Is roep a noun or a verb in this sentence?

In Die roep begin, roep is a noun.

You can tell because it comes after die, so die roep is a noun phrase: the call.

This can be confusing because roep can also be a verb in Afrikaans, meaning call or shout. So the same form can function as:

• a verb: Hulle roep = They call / They shout
• a noun: die roep = the call

In this sentence, the structure makes it clear that roep is a noun.

Why is roep not capitalized if it is a noun?