Ons vier haar verjaarsdag met ’n groot koek.

we

Breakdown of Ons vier haar verjaarsdag met ’n groot koek.

• groot: big
• met: with
• haar: her

Questions & Answers about Ons vier haar verjaarsdag met ’n groot koek.

What does vier mean here? Is it the number four?

Vier in this sentence is the verb to celebrate, not the numeral four. Afrikaans uses the same spelling for both, so context tells you which is meant.

Why is haar used here? Could we use sy instead?

sy is the subject pronoun “she.” haar is the object or possessive pronoun “her.” Since we are celebrating her birthday, we need the object/possessive pronoun haar, not the subject sy.

Why don't we say haar se verjaarsdag like in English we say “her’s birthday”?

In Afrikaans, personal pronouns already express possession, so you place the pronoun directly before the noun (haar verjaarsdag). The -se genitive is used only with nouns (e.g. Maria se boek), not with pronouns.

What is ’n? Could we use een instead?

’n (pronounced /ə/) is the indefinite article a/an. The apostrophe shows the dropped e from een (one). When you mean the number one, use een; for the article “a,” always use ’n.