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Questions & Answers about Ons aankoms in die stad sal ná middernag wees.
What does aankoms mean and how is it formed?
aankoms is the noun “arrival.” It comes from the verb aankom (“to arrive”), where aan- is a separable prefix meaning “on/to,” and -kom is “come.” Adding -s turns the verb into a noun.
Why is there an accent on ná? Isn’t na enough?
Afrikaans uses na (no accent) as a preposition meaning “to,” and ná (with an acute accent) as an adverb meaning “after.” In ná middernag, the accent tells you it’s “after midnight,” not “to midnight.”
How do you form the future tense with sal ... wees?
Afrikaans forms the future by using the auxiliary sal + infinitive. Here sal wees literally means “will be.” Sal is the future marker and wees is the infinitive of “to be.”
Can I move ná middernag to a different spot in the sentence?
Yes. You can reposition time phrases, but you must keep sal and the infinitive (wees) together.
Example variants:
- Ons aankoms in die stad sal ná middernag wees.
- Ons aankoms in die stad sal wees ná middernag.
Putting ná middernag before wees is most common.
Why is there no article before middernag? Could I say ná die middernag?
Time‐of‐day words like middernag (“midnight”) typically stand alone without die. Saying ná middernag is most idiomatic. Ná die middernag sounds less natural, though it’s grammatically possible.
Does in die stad mean “in the city” or “to the city”?
in die stad translates as “inside the city” or “within the city.” For “to the city,” you’d use na die stad.
Is Ons aankoms in die stad the subject of the sentence?
Yes. The entire noun phrase Ons aankoms in die stad (“Our arrival in the city”) functions as the subject. The predicate (verb phrase) is sal ná middernag wees.
Why don’t we add the possessive marker -se after ons for “our arrival”?
Pronouns in Afrikaans form possessives without -se. So ons means both “we/us” and “our.” You never say ons se; you simply say ons aankoms.
Aankoms ends with an -s. Is it singular or plural?
Despite ending in -s, aankoms is a singular noun (“an arrival”). The regular plural is aankomste (“arrivals”).
Do we capitalize middernag?
No. middernag is a common noun and remains lowercase unless it starts a sentence.