Learn Hardcore Afrikaans: Ons huis het die mooiste tuin. - Our house has the most beautiful garden.

In Afrikaans ons can serve as both a subject pronoun (“we/us”) and a possessive pronoun (“our/ours”).
• When ons stands alone before a verb (e.g. Ons het…), it means “we.”
• When ons comes directly before a noun (no verb in between), it’s possessive: Ons huis = “our house.”

Why is the verb het used here? How do you form “have” in the present tense?

The verb hê (“to have”) is conjugated in the present tense with het for nearly every person:
• Ek het
• Jy het
• Hy/sy/dit het
• Ons het
• Julle het
• Hulle het
So Ons huis het… simply means “Our house has….”

What is the word order in this sentence? Is it the same as English?

Yes. In a straightforward statement with a full verb, Afrikaans uses Subject-Verb-Object (SVO), just like English:
Subject = Ons huis (“our house”)
Verb = het (“has”)
Object = die mooiste tuin (“the most beautiful garden”)

Why do we use die before mooiste tuin? When would you choose die instead of ’n?

Die is the definite article “the.” You use it for something specific or unique. Since you’re claiming it’s the single “most beautiful garden,” you need the definite article: die mooiste tuin = “the most beautiful garden.”
If you just wanted to say “a beautiful garden,” you’d use the indefinite article ’n (pronounced [ən]): ’n mooi tuin.

How do you form the superlative mooiste from mooi? Why not just mooi or mooier?

Afrikaans adjectives form degrees like this:
• Positive: mooi = beautiful
• Comparative: mooier = more beautiful
• Superlative: mooiste = most beautiful
When you want the superlative, you always add -ste to the adjective and use it with die: die mooiste.

Are there irregular superlatives I need to watch out for?

Almost all Afrikaans adjectives are regular: you simply add -ste (e.g. groot → grootste, oud → oudste). A small number of adjectives ending in -ing or -ër may have minor spelling adjustments, but there are very few true irregulars, and mooi → mooiste is completely regular.

How do you pronounce huis, tuin, mooi and mooiste? The spelling is different from English.

Afrikaans diphthongs and vowels can be tricky:
• huis is pronounced [hœys], roughly like English “hoys” with an “œ” sound (a bit like the French œ in “œuf”).
• tuin is [tœyn], similar to “toyn.”
• mooi is [moːi], like “moy” with a long “o.”
• mooiste is [ˈmoːi.stə], stress on the first syllable, with “-ste” as [stə].

How would you make this into a yes/no question?

You invert the verb and the subject (verb–subject order) for a yes/no question:
Het ons huis die mooiste tuin?
= “Does our house have the most beautiful garden?”

Do adjectives always come before the noun in Afrikaans? Can they follow a verb as in English (“The garden is beautiful”)?

Yes, attributive adjectives (those directly describing a noun) always precede the noun: die mooiste tuin.
If you use an adjective predicatively (with a linking verb), it comes after the verb:
Ons tuin is mooi.
= “Our garden is beautiful.”
You cannot place an adjective after a noun without a verb (i.e. die tuin mooi is incorrect).