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Questions & Answers about Die kind praat sag.
What does Die mean in this sentence?
Die is the definite article “the.” Afrikaans has only one definite article, die, for all genders and numbers.
What does kind mean?
Kind means “child.” It’s a neuter noun but doesn’t change form in the plural or with gender: one child = ’n kind, two children = twee kinders.
Why don’t we say “a child” here?
Because die is “the,” not “a.” The indefinite article “a” is ’n (pronounced like “en”). So “a child speaks softly” would be ’n kind praat sag.
What part of speech is sag?
Here, sag is an adverb meaning “softly” or “quietly.” It looks identical to the adjective sag (“soft”), but when it follows and modifies a verb, it’s an adverb.
Why does the adverb sag come after the verb praat instead of before?
In Afrikaans the normal position for manner‐adverbs (like softly, quickly, badly) is after the finite verb. So S-V-Adv (Subject–Verb–Adverb) is the usual order: Die kind praat sag.
How would you turn this into a question: “Does the child speak softly?”
You invert verb and subject, putting the verb first:
Praat die kind sag?
How do you pronounce praat and sag?
• praat – sounds like [prɑːt], with a rolled or guttural r and a long “aa.”
• sag – sounds roughly like [sɑχ] or [sak], with a soft “g”/“ch” at the back of the throat.