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
• stadig: slow
• verkies: to prefer

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?

In Afrikaans attributive adjectives (those before a noun) normally get -e when the noun is:
• preceded by a definite article (die stadige bus)
• preceded by ’n, a demonstrative (daardie stadige bus), or a possessive (sy stadige bus)
• plural (even if no article)
Here stadige is before bus and follows the definite article die, so it must take -e.

When do adjectives in Afrikaans not take an -e ending?

You keep the base form (no -e) only when:

1. A singular noun is used with no article or demonstrative/possessive.
   Example: Stadig pad (“slow road”) is rare, but if you literally omit any article, the adjective stays stadig.
2. You use the adjective predicatively after a linking verb:
   Example: Die bus is stadig. (“The bus is slow.”)

What’s the difference between saying verkies and using hou liewer van?

• verkies is a standalone verb meaning “to prefer.” You directly follow it with the object: ek verkies tee.
• hou liewer van literally means “holds rather of,” so you need van: ek hou liewer van tee (“I rather like tea”).
You cannot say hou liewer tee; you must insert van.

Why isn’t there any preposition before die stadige bus?

Because verkies is a transitive verb that takes a direct object. You don’t need a preposition (unlike English, where “prefer X to Y” uses to). If you compare two things in Afrikaans, you add bo (= “than”):
My vriend verkies die stadige bus bo die vinnige.

If I wanted to say “a slow bus” instead of “the slow bus,” how would I change the sentence?

Replace the definite article die with the indefinite ’n:
My vriend verkies ’n stadige bus.
The adjective still takes -e after ’n.

How are verkies and stadige pronounced?

A rough guide in English sounds:

• verkies: “FER-kees” (v = f-sound, e as in “her,” k hard, ie = long ee as in “see”).
• stadige: “STAH-dee-guh” (a as in “father,” d soft, i as in “bit,” g as in “go,” final e like a schwa).