Question 1

Why doesn’t ons take a -se ending as in “ons se afspraak”?

Accepted Answer

In Afrikaans the possessive pronoun for “we/our” is already ons, so you don’t add -se. You only use -se on nouns (e.g. die man se kar “the man’s car”), not on personal pronouns.

Question 2

Why is by used in “by die hospitaal” instead of in?

Accepted Answer

By indicates a location or venue where something happens or is scheduled. In English you say “at the hospital,” and in Afrikaans that is by die hospitaal. In die hospitaal would imply “inside the hospital” (e.g. a patient lying in a ward).

Question 3

Why does the phrase include die before hospitaal? Can we say “by hospitaal”?

Accepted Answer

Afrikaans requires a definite article die before singular common nouns when speaking about a specific place: by die hospitaal (“at the hospital”). Without die it would read as a bare noun, which is ungrammatical here.

Question 4

Why is the verb is in the present tense when the appointment is in the future? Why not gaan wees?

Accepted Answer

Afrikaans often uses the simple present (is) to talk about fixed future events, especially appointments. “Ons afspraak… is vroeg môre” = “Our appointment… is early tomorrow.” You could say “Ons afspraak by die hospitaal gaan vroeg môre wees,” but that is more wordy and less idiomatic.

Question 5

Why is the time phrase vroeg môre placed after the verb, and why not môre vroeg?

Accepted Answer

Time adverbials in Afrikaans typically follow the verb or verb phrase. Vroeg môre (“early tomorrow”) is a single adverbial unit. Swapping to môre vroeg sounds odd because you’d normally say môre vroeg oggend (“tomorrow early morning”); without oggend, môre vroeg is non-standard.

Question 6

How do you pronounce môre, and why is there a circumflex?

Accepted Answer

The circumflex ô marks a long o sound, roughly like the “o” in English “more.” So môre is pronounced [moor-ə]. Without the accent, more would be pronounced with a shorter “o” or risk confusion with English.

Question 7

What is afspraak? Is it a Dutch loan, and are there Afrikaans synonyms?

Accepted Answer

Afspraak is indeed borrowed from Dutch and means “appointment” or “agreement to meet.” It’s fully integrated into Afrikaans. A less common synonym is afspraakte (rare), but afspraak is the standard word.

Question 8

Could you drop the copula and say “Ons afspraak by die hospitaal vroeg môre”?

Accepted Answer

No. In Afrikaans you need the copular verb is (or another linking verb) to connect the subject Ons afspraak by die hospitaal with the time expression vroeg môre. Omitting is would make the sentence incomplete.

Ons afspraak by die hospitaal is vroeg môre.

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