Breakdown of Ons vertrek vroeg lughawe toe met swaar bagasie.
ons
we
met
with
vertrek
to leave
vroeg
early
die lughawe
the airport
swaar
heavy
die bagasie
the luggage
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Questions & Answers about Ons vertrek vroeg lughawe toe met swaar bagasie.
Why don’t we add -t to vertrek for ons?
In Afrikaans, verbs stay in the same form for all persons (I, you, he/she, we, you all, they). So you always use the base form vertrek, whether the subject is ek, jy, hulle or ons.
Why is there no die before lughawe toe?
When you use the directional particle toe with common place words like huis, skool, werk, park or lughawe, Afrikaans drops the article. You say huis toe, park toe, lughawe toe, not die huis toe or die lughawe toe.
What does toe mean here, and why is it placed after lughawe?
Toe is a particle meaning “to” in the sense of movement towards somewhere. Unlike English (which puts “to” before a noun), Afrikaans places toe after the noun: lughawe toe = “to the airport.”
Why does swaar not become swaare before bagasie?
Most adjectives in Afrikaans remain unchanged (no -e ending) before singular or uncountable (mass) nouns. Since bagasie is treated as an uncountable noun, the adjective stays swaar, not swaare.
Why don’t we use 'n before swaar bagasie?
Bagasie is a mass noun (like “water” in English), so it does not take the indefinite article 'n. If you wanted to count pieces of luggage, you’d say for example drie stukke bagasie, but general luggage appears without 'n.
Why is vroeg placed before lughawe toe and met swaar bagasie?
Afrikaans usually follows the order Subject–Verb–Time–Place–Manner. In your sentence that gives:
• Subject: Ons
• Verb: vertrek
• Time: vroeg
• Place: lughawe toe
• Manner: met swaar bagasie
Why is the present tense vertrek used for a future departure?
Afrikaans often uses the simple present to talk about scheduled or planned future events (just like “The train leaves at 7” in English). If you want to be explicit about the future, you can add sal: Ons sal vroeg lughawe toe vertrek.
Could we replace vertrek with gaan in this sentence?
Yes. In informal speech you can say Ons gaan vroeg lughawe toe met swaar bagasie. Here gaan (go) + a directional phrase expresses movement. Vertrek is more specific for formal departures (planes, trains, etc.), while gaan is more general.
How do you pronounce lughawe, swaar, and bagasie?
• lughawe: “LUH-gha-vuh” (the gh is a guttural Dutch g, like in goed).
• swaar: “svaar” (with a long aa, similar to “spa” in English).
• bagasie: “ba-HAH-see” (stress on si, and the same guttural g).