Die dakisolasie het 'n lae warmtegeleidingsvermoë.

Roof insulation has low thermal conductivity.

Breakdown of Die dakisolasie het 'n lae warmtegeleidingsvermoë.

• hê: to have
• 'n: a
• laag: low
• die dakisolasie: roof insulation

Questions & Answers about Die dakisolasie het 'n lae warmtegeleidingsvermoë.

Why is dakisolasie written as one word?

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns by writing them as a single word.

So:

• dak = roof
• isolasie = insulation
• dakisolasie = roof insulation

This is completely normal in Afrikaans. English often writes these as two words, but Afrikaans usually joins them.

What does het mean in this sentence?

Here het means has.

So the structure is:

• Die dakisolasie = the roof insulation
• het = has
• 'n lae warmtegeleidingsvermoë = a low thermal conductivity

Afrikaans het can also be used as an auxiliary verb in perfect tenses, but in this sentence it is simply the main verb meaning has.

What is 'n, and why does it have an apostrophe?

'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, equivalent to English a or an.

So:

• 'n lae warmtegeleidingsvermoë = a low thermal conductivity

The apostrophe is part of the standard spelling. A few useful things to remember:

• It is written 'n, not n.
• It is usually not stressed in pronunciation.
• In careful speech it sounds like a weak vowel, roughly uh.

Also, if you start a sentence with it, it is still written 'n, not capitalized as 'N.