Breakdown of Ek stuur ’n nota aan elke kollega voordat die projek begin.
ek
I
die
the
voordat
before
’n
a
stuur
to send
aan
to
elke
every
die kollega
the colleague
die nota
the note
die projek
the project
begin
to start
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Questions & Answers about Ek stuur ’n nota aan elke kollega voordat die projek begin.
Why is there an apostrophe in ’n?
’n is the indefinite article in Afrikaans, equivalent to English a or an. The apostrophe shows it’s a reduced form of een (“one”) and prevents confusion with the conjunction en (“and”).
Why does the verb begin appear at the end of the clause voordat die projek begin?
In Afrikaans subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like voordat (“before”) the finite verb moves to the end. So begin comes last in voordat die projek begin.
Why isn’t there a “-t” on begin, as in English “begins”?
Afrikaans verbs do not inflect for person or number. Whether it’s ek begin, jy begin, or hulle begin, the verb form stays the same.
What role does aan play in aan elke kollega?
aan is a preposition meaning “to.” With the verb stuur (“send”), you often mark the recipient using aan, so aan elke kollega = “to each colleague.”
Could you also say Ek stuur elke kollega ’n nota? If so, what’s the difference?
Yes. Afrikaans allows a double-object construction without aan: Ek stuur elke kollega ’n nota. The meaning is the same; using aan is slightly more explicit or formal about marking the recipient.
Why is Ek capitalized but projek is not?
Afrikaans always capitalizes the pronoun Ek, but common nouns like projek stay in lowercase unless they start a sentence or form part of a proper name.
What’s the difference between voordat and voor?
voordat is a conjunction meaning “before (something happens)” and triggers verb-final word order. voor is a preposition meaning “in front of” or “prior to” when placed before a noun phrase (e.g. voor die vergadering), but it cannot introduce a full clause with its own verb.
Why is the present tense stuur used here, even though the sending happens before a future event?
Afrikaans often uses the present tense to describe future actions when the time frame is clear from context or a conjunction like voordat. There’s no need for a separate future marker.
Why doesn’t kollega appear in the plural, since it refers to more than one person?
Because the structure elke kollega treats each colleague individually (“each colleague”). You’re still talking about one note per colleague, so kollega remains singular in that phrase.