Die personeel hanteer die bagasie sorgvuldig.

The staff handles the luggage carefully.

Breakdown of Die personeel hanteer die bagasie sorgvuldig.

• die bagasie: the luggage
• die personeel: the staff
• sorgvuldig: carefully
• hanteer: to handle

Questions & Answers about Die personeel hanteer die bagasie sorgvuldig.

What does personeel mean?

The word personeel is a collective noun meaning staff or personnel in English. It refers to the group of people working for an organization.

Why isn’t hanteer inflected with a –t ending in the third person singular?

In Afrikaans, present‐tense verbs do not change form according to person or number. You use the base form (e.g. hanteer) for ek, jy, hy/sy, ons, jul, hulle, etc.

What kind of noun is bagasie, and why is it singular here?

Bagasie is a collective or mass noun meaning luggage. It is treated as uncountable or singular, so you don’t make a plural form (you wouldn’t say bagasies for general luggage).

What part of speech is sorgvuldig, and why does it come after the object?

Sorgvuldig is an adverb meaning carefully. In a simple SVO (Subject–Verb–Object) sentence, Afrikaans often places manner adverbs after the direct object, so you get hanteer … bagasie … sorgvuldig.

Can I put sorgvuldig before the verb, like Sorgvuldig hanteer die personeel die bagasie?

Yes, that’s grammatically correct. Placing the adverb first gives extra emphasis to the manner (i.e. it highlights “carefully” more strongly), but both orders are acceptable.

Why are there two instances of die in the sentence?

Afrikaans has a single definite article die (equivalent to English “the”) that never changes form. It’s used before both personeel and bagasie here to specify “the staff” and “the luggage.”

How do I pronounce sorgvuldig?

In IPA you might see [sɔrχˈfylɪx]. A rough English approximation is “sorx-FEEL-ikh”, where the “g/​ch” sound is a harsh, throaty fricative.

Are there synonyms for hanteer I could use?

Yes. Depending on context, you could use behandel (treat/deal with) or verwerk (process), though hanteer is the most direct equivalent of “handle.”

How else could I express “with care” instead of using sorgvuldig?

You could say met sorg, for example:
Die personeel hanteer die bagasie met sorg.
That prepositional phrase also means “with care” and is equally common.

What is the basic word order in this Afrikaans sentence?

The structure is Subject–Verb–Object–(Adverb):

1. Die personeel (Subject)
2. hanteer (Verb)
3. die bagasie (Object)
4. sorgvuldig (Adverb of manner)