Hy dink aan die week.

He thinks about the week.

Breakdown of Hy dink aan die week.

• hy: he
• die: the
• dink: to think
• die week: the week

Questions & Answers about Hy dink aan die week.

Why does the sentence use aan after dink?

In Afrikaans, the verb dink (think) is often followed by the preposition aan to express what someone is thinking about. It roughly corresponds to about in English (as in think about something).

Is aan always the correct preposition to use after dink?

Most of the time, yes. When dink means you’re thinking about something, aan is the standard preposition. However, if you’re referring to thinking of someone in a longing sense, you might also see expressions like Hy dink aan sy familie (He thinks about his family).

Why is the phrase die week used here instead of something like hierdie week?

Die week simply means the week in general. If you want to specify this week, you could say hierdie week. In this particular sentence, the speaker is just thinking about the week in a more general or immediate sense without specifying it further.

What is the basic word order of the sentence Hy dink aan die week?

Afrikaans typically follows a Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) pattern, but when a preposition is involved, the direct object is effectively part of a prepositional phrase. Here:
• Hy (subject)
• dink (verb)
• aan die week (prepositional phrase, functioning as the object of thought).

Does dink in Afrikaans have any spelling or pronunciation traps for English speakers?

English speakers might momentarily expect a th sound, but Afrikaans uses d: dink instead of think. The d is pronounced much like the English d in day, and it can feel slightly more forward in the mouth than the English th sound.