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Die hele tuin is skoon.

Die hele tuin is skoon.
The whole garden is clean.
FromLesson 5inHardcore Afrikaans

Breakdown of Die hele tuin is skoon.

die
the
wees
to be
skoon
clean
die tuin
the garden
hele
whole

Questions & Answers about Die hele tuin is skoon.

What does Die mean in this sentence and what role does it play?
Die is the definite article the in Afrikaans. It marks that we’re talking about a specific garden. Unlike English, this article doesn’t change form (no gender or number variation).
How would I say “a whole garden is clean” instead of “the whole garden is clean”?

Use the indefinite article ’n (pronounced roughly “uhn”):

  • ’n hele tuin is skoon
What exactly does hele mean here, and how is it different from heel?
  • hele (with -e) is an attributive adjective meaning whole or entire before a noun (as in “the entire garden”).
  • heel (no -e) is an uninflected adverb meaning very or quite when placed before adjectives or adverbs (e.g. heel mooi = “very beautiful”).
Why is the adjective skoon not given an -e here?
Because skoon is functioning as a predicate adjective (“is clean”). Predicate adjectives follow the verb is and stay in their base form—no -e ending. (Attributively, it would be skone tuin = “clean garden.”)
How would I say “the clean garden” as a noun phrase (attributive use)?

You put the adjective before the noun and add -e:

Why is the verb always is? Don’t verbs change with person or number?
In Afrikaans, present-tense verbs do not conjugate for person or number. is is used for I, you, he, we, they, etc.
How do I turn the statement into a question like “Is the whole garden clean?”?

Simply invert the verb and subject:

What about past tense—how do I say “The whole garden was clean”?

The past-tense form of is is was:

  • Die hele tuin was skoon
How do you pronounce tuin?
tuin is pronounced [tœyn], similar to English toyn (rhymes with coin). The ui is a diphthong uncommon in English but akin to Dutch ui.
If I want to talk about multiple gardens, how do I say “the whole gardens are clean”?

Plural of tuin is tuine, and the verb & adjective remain unchanged:

  • Die hele tuine is skoon
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