My moeder lees die wenslys.

My mother reads the wish list.

Breakdown of My moeder lees die wenslys.

• lees: to read
• my: my
• die wenslys: wish list
• die moeder: mother

Questions & Answers about My moeder lees die wenslys.

Why is my used here? Is it the same as English my?

Yes. Afrikaans my means my in English.

In My moeder lees die wenslys, my moeder means my mother.

A useful thing to notice is that Afrikaans my is spelled the same way every time, unlike English, where my and mine are different words. In Afrikaans, possession is often quite straightforward:

• my boek = my book
• my moeder = my mother

At the start of the sentence, My is capitalized only because it is the first word.

Why is it moeder and not ma?

Both can exist, but they are not exactly the same in tone.

• moeder = mother, more neutral or formal
• ma = mom / mum, more familiar and informal

So My moeder lees die wenslys is perfectly correct, but it sounds a little more like My mother is reading the wish list than My mom is reading the wish list.

Why is die used here? Does it mean the?