Breakdown of Die somerwind laat my beter voel.
laat
to let
my
me
beter
better
voel
to feel
die somerwind
the summer wind
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Questions & Answers about Die somerwind laat my beter voel.
What exactly does laat mean in this sentence, and how is it used?
Here, laat is a causative verb meaning cause or make (someone do or feel something). It behaves like English make when followed by an object pronoun + bare infinitive. So Die somerwind laat my beter voel literally means the summer wind makes me feel better. Notice there is no te or om before voel.
Could we use maak instead of laat, and what nuance does that bring?
Yes—you can say Die somerwind maak my beter voel. The verb maak is a straightforward make, whereas laat often carries both senses let and cause. In everyday speech they’re interchangeable here, but maak feels more direct.
Why isn’t om or te used before voel?
After modal or causative verbs like laat, maak, moet, kan, the following verb stays in the bare infinitive. You never insert te or om—so it’s laat … voel, not laat … om voel or laat … te voel.
What’s the role of my, and why isn’t it ek?
my is the object pronoun equivalent to English me, while ek is the subject pronoun I. Since my receives the action of laat (the wind makes me feel better), the object form my is required.
Why is somerwind written as one word, and how are compound nouns formed?
somerwind is a compound of somer (summer) + wind (wind). Afrikaans often merges two nouns into a single term: e.g. sonsondergang (sunset) from son + sonder + gang, or huisdeur (house door) from huis + deur.
What part of speech is beter, and how do you form comparatives in Afrikaans?
beter is the comparative form of goed (good/well). To form comparatives, you typically add -er to the adjective or adverb:
• goed → beter
• groot → groter
• snel → sneller
What is the word order in this sentence, and why does the verb come second?
In a main clause, Afrikaans follows Subject–Verb–Object order, with the finite verb in second position. Here:
1 Subject: Die somerwind
2 Verb: laat
3 Object: my
4 Complement: beter voel
How do you pronounce somerwind, and where is the stress placed?
somerwind is pronounced /ˈsoː.mər.vɪnt/. The primary stress falls on the first syllable: SOH-mər-vint.