Questions & Answers about Ek verstaan jou besluit.
Afrikaans verbs are regular and do not change form for different subjects.
• Present tense:
– ek verstaan
– jy verstaan
– hy/sy verstaan
– ons verstaan
– julle verstaan
– hulle verstaan
• Past tense: use het + past participle (which is the same as the infinitive):
– ek het verstaan
– jy het verstaan, etc.
There’s no separate continuous/progressive form; the simple present covers both “understand” and “am understanding.”
Afrikaans follows a Subject–Verb–Object (S–V–O) order in main clauses, with the finite verb in second position. Here:
- Subject = Ek
- Verb = verstaan
- Object = jou besluit
Putting the object before the verb (S–O–V) would violate this basic word‐order rule.
• jou – singular informal (e.g. talking to a friend/family).
• u – singular formal (e.g. polite or business contexts).
• julle – plural (talking to more than one person).
So jou besluit is correct for one person informally, u besluit for formal “your decision,” and julle besluit when addressing a group.
• besluit (noun): usually a final or formal decision.
• beslissing (noun): more general—a choice or judgement.
In practice, Ek verstaan jou besluit is the most natural way to say “I understand your decision.” Ek verstaan jou beslissing isn’t wrong but sounds less idiomatic in many contexts.
The plural is besluite.
So you’d say:
Ek verstaan jou besluite
= “I understand your decisions.”
Use the past tense with the auxiliary het:
Ek het jou besluit verstaan
= “I understood your decision.”
Context and position:
– As a noun, it follows a determiner or possessive (e.g. die besluit, jou besluit).
– As a verb, it appears with or without om + infinitive, and often with het in past tense:
• Ek besluit om te bly. (verb = decide)
• Ons het besluit om te gaan. (verb = decided)
If it’s immediately after die/jou/u/julle, it’s a noun; if it’s followed by om or used with het, it’s acting as a verb.