Die bestanddelelys verbeter voedselveiligheid.

The ingredient list improves food safety.

Breakdown of Die bestanddelelys verbeter voedselveiligheid.

• verbeter: to improve
• die bestanddelelys: ingredient list
• die voedselveiligheid: food safety

Questions & Answers about Die bestanddelelys verbeter voedselveiligheid.

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

Here die means the.

It is not the English verb die, and it is not pronounced the same way. In Afrikaans, die is usually pronounced roughly like dee.

Also, die is the normal definite article for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

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

Why is bestanddelelys written as one long word?

Afrikaans usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

So:

• bestanddele = ingredients
• lys = list
• bestanddelelys = ingredients list / list of ingredients

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English sometimes writes similar ideas as two words, but Afrikaans often joins them into one compound noun.

What does bestanddele mean by itself, and why is it plural?

Bestanddele means ingredients.

Its singular form is:

• bestanddeel = ingredient

Its plural form is:

• bestanddele = ingredients

In bestanddelelys, the first part stays plural because it is a list containing multiple ingredients. That is very natural in Afrikaans compounds.

How does verbeter work in this sentence?