Die klimhelm beskerm die rotsklimmer.

to protect

Breakdown of Die klimhelm beskerm die rotsklimmer.

• die klimhelm: climbing helmet
• die rotsklimmer: rock climber

Questions & Answers about Die klimhelm beskerm die rotsklimmer.

Why does the sentence start with die twice?

In Afrikaans, die is the definite article for both singular and plural nouns. It usually means the.

So in Die klimhelm beskerm die rotsklimmer:

• die klimhelm = the climbing helmet
• die rotsklimmer = the rock climber

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not change the article for gender, and unlike Dutch or German, there is no separate word like de/het or der/die/das.

Is klimhelm one word because Afrikaans likes compounds?

Yes. Afrikaans very often forms compound nouns by writing them as one word.

So:

• klim = climb / climbing
• helm = helmet
• klimhelm = climbing helmet

Likewise:

• rots = rock
• klimmer = climber
• rotsklimmer = rock climber

This is very common in Afrikaans, so learners should get used to seeing long nouns written as a single word.

What part of speech is beskerm here?

Beskerm is the verb in this sentence, meaning protects or protect depending on context.

In this sentence:

• Die klimhelm = subject
• beskerm = verb
• die rotsklimmer = object

So the structure is a normal main-clause word order:

Subject + Verb + Object