Breakdown of Sy dra haar nuwe klere en lyk die mooiste in die groep.
sy
she
in
in
nuwe
new
en
and
haar
her
die klere
the clothes
lyk
to look
dra
to wear
mooiste
most beautiful
die groep
the group
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?
In Afrikaans, the superlative adds -ste to the adjective stem and takes the definite article die. So mooi + -ste = mooi-ste, and you prefix die: die mooiste = “the most beautiful.”
Why don’t we need as (as in “more than” or “the most of all”) in die mooiste in die groep?
Afrikaans uses die plus the superlative form for “the most” and then a prepositional phrase to locate the comparison: in die groep (“in the group”). You only use as for comparatives (e.g. mooier as sy suster = “more beautiful than her sister”).
Why is there no subject pronoun before lyk in the second part of the sentence?
When two clauses share the same subject and are joined by en, Afrikaans allows omitting the repeated subject in the second clause. It’s understood from the first Sy.
Is there a comma before en in this sentence?
No. In Afrikaans, you generally do not place a comma before en when it connects two clauses that are closely linked, especially with the same subject.
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