Sy dra haar nuwe klere en lyk die mooiste in die groep.

she

Breakdown of Sy dra haar nuwe klere en lyk die mooiste in die groep.

• in: in
• nuwe: new
• en: and

Questions & Answers about Sy dra haar nuwe klere en lyk die mooiste in die groep.

What does dra mean here and how does it compare to English “wear”?

In Afrikaans dra covers both “to wear” (clothes) and “to carry.” In this sentence it translates as “wear”: “She is wearing her new clothes.”

Why isn’t there an article before nuwe klere?

Afrikaans uses no article for indefinite plural nouns. nuwe klere (“new clothes”) is plural and indefinite, so it’s used without ’n.

I see haar before nuwe klere—how do I know it’s a possessive pronoun and not an object pronoun?

Position tells you: when haar comes before a noun, it’s possessive (“her”). When it follows a verb alone (e.g. Ek sien haar – “I see her”), it’s an object pronoun.

Why is lyk used instead of is?

lyk means “to look” or “to appear” in terms of appearance, not just existence or identity like is. So Sy lyk die mooiste = “She looks the most beautiful,” not “She is the most beautiful.”

How is the superlative formed with mooi to get mooi-ste, and why do we use die mooiste?