Questions & Answers about Die bus is vol.
What does Die mean here?
Die is the definite article “the” in Afrikaans. It’s used for all genders and numbers (for example die huis = “the house,” die stoele = “the chairs”).
Why is there no grammatical gender affecting Die or bus?
Afrikaans has lost grammatical gender. You don’t have “he,” “she,” or “it” articles—just die for “the,” regardless of the noun.
Why is the adjective vol placed after is instead of before bus?
In Afrikaans, complements of the copular verb is (to be) follow that verb. So you say die bus is vol (“the bus is full”) rather than placing vol directly in front of bus.
How would I say “a bus is full” instead of “the bus is full”?
Use the indefinite article ’n (pronounced like “uh”). That gives you:
’n bus is vol
(“a bus is full”).
How do you form the plural “the buses are full”?
The plural of bus is busse, and the verb is stays the same for all persons and numbers. So you get:
die busse is vol
(“the buses are full”).
How do you make the sentence negative, i.e. “the bus is not full”?
Afrikaans uses a double nie for negation. You say:
Die bus is nie vol nie.
How do you pronounce bus and vol?
“bus” is pronounced [bʏs] (the vowel is like the German ü), and “vol” is [fɔl] (similar to English “fall” but with an open o).
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