Die ongeduldige vriend hou nie van lang rye by die hospitaal nie.

The impatient friend does not like long queues at the hospital.

Breakdown of Die ongeduldige vriend hou nie van lang rye by die hospitaal nie.

• die vriend: the friend
• nie: not
• by: at
• lang: long

Questions & Answers about Die ongeduldige vriend hou nie van lang rye by die hospitaal nie.

Why are there two instances of nie in this sentence?

Afrikaans uses a double-negative construction to negate most verbs. You place nie immediately after the verb (hou nie) and again at the end of the clause to close the negation. Without the final nie, the sentence would be ungrammatical.

Why does ongeduldig become ongeduldige when modifying vriend?

Attributive adjectives in Afrikaans almost always take an -e ending when the noun they modify is definite (i.e. preceded by die, a possessive, a demonstrative, etc.). Here vriend is definite (die vriend), so ongeduldig becomes ongeduldige.

Why doesn’t hou change form for the third person singular (e.g. hy hou, not hy houd)?

In Afrikaans, verbs are unchanged for person or number. Whether it’s ek, jy, hy/sy, ons or hulle, the verb form stays the same. The Dutch houdt simplified to hou in all contexts.

Why is the expression hou van used to mean “like”?