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Questions & Answers about Jy kan die boek oopmaak.
What does jy mean in this sentence?
jy is the informal second-person singular pronoun, equivalent to English you when addressing one person.
What is the function of kan?
kan is a modal verb meaning can (ability or permission). It occupies the “second position” in the clause, after any element you front for emphasis (here that element is the subject jy).
Why is oopmaak placed at the end of the sentence?
Afrikaans follows a V2 (verb-second) word order. When you use a modal like kan, the main verb—in this case the infinitive oopmaak—moves to the very end, after the direct object.
Is oopmaak one word or two?
In Afrikaans it’s treated as one inseparable compound verb: oopmaak. In the perfect tense you’ll see it as oopgemaak, but you won’t split it into oop maak in running text.
Can I say Jy kan oopmaak die boek instead?
No. You must place the direct object immediately after the subject (or modal if you front that), and then the infinitive: Jy kan die boek oopmaak.
How would I turn this into a question?
Swap the modal and the subject to form a yes/no question:
Kan jy die boek oopmaak?
(This literally reads “Can you the book open-make?”)
How do I negate it – “You cannot open the book”?
Use double nie around the infinitive:
Jy kan die boek nie oopmaak nie.
First nie follows the object; the second nie closes the negation at the end.
Why is die used here, and how does it differ from English the?
In Afrikaans die is the definite article for all genders and numbers (singular and plural). It works exactly like English the, but there’s no separate form for masculine/feminine or for plural nouns.
How do I pronounce jy?
jy rhymes roughly with English “yay” but starts with a quick /j/ sound. Phonetically it’s [jɛi], so slightly shorter and tenser than the English word “yay.”