My vriend verkies die stadige bus.

My friend prefers the slow bus.

Breakdown of My vriend verkies die stadige bus.

• die: the
• my: my
• die vriend: the friend
• die bus: the bus

Questions & Answers about My vriend verkies die stadige bus.

Why is the Afrikaans possessive pronoun my identical to the English my, and does it ever change (like Dutch mijn)?

In Afrikaans the possessive my is always written my. It never becomes mijn or meyn. Unlike Dutch, which keeps mijn, Afrikaans simplified its spelling, so you’ll always see my boek for “my book.”

What kind of verb is verkies, and why isn’t it spelled verkiest or verkiesd?

verkies is the infinitive verkies (“to prefer”) used directly as a finite verb. In Afrikaans most verbs use the same form for all persons:

• ek verkies
• jy verkies
• hy/sy/dit verkies
• ons/julle/hulle verkies
  There is no -t on the second person or extra -d on the past participle here—verkies stays constant.

How do you turn My vriend verkies die stadige bus into a yes/no question?

Invert the finite verb and subject. You get:
Verkies my vriend die stadige bus?
Literally: “Does my friend prefer the slow bus?”

Why does the adjective stadige take an -e ending instead of staying stadig?