Ek sien die kleur rooi.

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Breakdown of Ek sien die kleur rooi.

• sien: to see
• die: the
• rooi: red

Questions & Answers about Ek sien die kleur rooi.

Why is the adjective rooi placed after the noun kleur in Ek sien die kleur rooi?

In Afrikaans, die kleur rooi is the fixed way to express the concept “the color red.” Here kleur is the head noun and rooi a descriptive complement. If you instead said die rooi kleur, you’d literally mean “the red color (of something),” focusing on that specific shade rather than the general idea of “the color red.”

What does die do in Ek sien die kleur rooi?

die is the definite article in Afrikaans (equivalent to English “the”) and is used for all nouns regardless of gender or number. So die kleur simply means “the color.”

Should rooi take an extra -e ending because kleur is definite?

Typically adjectives add -e before a definite noun (e.g. die groot hond), but adjectives ending in a vowel—such as rooi, blou, groen—do not take the extra -e, so they remain unchanged.

How would I say “I see a red color” (indefinite) in Afrikaans?

You could say Ek sien ’n rooi kleur, but this sounds formal and is less common. More natural is Ek sien rooi (“I see red”) or Ek sien iets rooi (“I see something red”).