Breakdown of Na die vergadering druk ek twee kopieë van elke lêer vir die kollega.
ek
I
vir
for
na
after
twee
two
elke
each
van
of
die kollega
the colleague
die lêer
the file
die vergadering
the meeting
druk
to print
die kopie
the copy
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Questions & Answers about Na die vergadering druk ek twee kopieë van elke lêer vir die kollega.
Why does the verb druk appear before the subject ek in this sentence?
Afrikaans follows a “verb-second” word order in main clauses. If you start with something other than the subject (here the time phrase Na die vergadering), the finite verb must come in the second position. The subject ek is then pushed to third place, giving Na die vergadering druk ek…
In English, “druk” can mean both “to push” and “to press.” How do I know that druk here means “to print”?
Context is key. When you see words like kopieë (copies) and lêer (file) in an office or computer setting, druk is understood as “to print.” If you were talking about pressing a button, you’d usually see it with op (e.g. druk op die knoppie).
Why is the plural of kopie spelled kopieë instead of kopies?
Nouns ending in -ie form their plural by adding -ë (with a diaeresis). The ë shows that you pronounce an extra vowel: ko-pi-e. If you wrote kopies, readers might try to collapse the last two vowels into a diphthong.
Why do we say kopieë van elke lêer and not kopieë elke lêer?
Afrikaans uses the preposition van to express the English “of” in partitive constructions. You need van to link “copies” with “each file.” Without it, the phrase would be ungrammatical.
Why is it elke lêer and not elk lêer?
When you place a word equivalent to “each” directly before a noun, you always use elke. The form elk can serve as a pronoun (“each one”), but never modifies a noun by itself.
The sentence uses vir die kollega to mean “for the colleague.” Could I use aan instead of vir?
vir marks a beneficiary or intended recipient (“for someone”). aan stresses direction or physically handing something to someone (“to someone”). Here you’re printing copies for your colleague’s benefit, so vir is appropriate.
How do I choose between die kollega and ’n kollega?
Use die (“the”) when you and your listener both know which colleague you mean. Use ’n (“a”) when you introduce or speak of a colleague in a general or indefinite sense.
What do the diacritics in lêer and kopieë indicate?
The circumflex over ê in lêer (file) signals a long, closed vowel /e:/. The diaeresis over ë in kopieë indicates that this vowel is pronounced in its own syllable (ko-pi-e), rather than forming a diphthong.