Breakdown of Die rekenaar stoor ’n kopie aanlyn voordat dit die lêer druk.
dit
it
voordat
before
’n
a
die lêer
the file
aanlyn
online
druk
to print
die kopie
the copy
die rekenaar
the computer
stoor
to save
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Questions & Answers about Die rekenaar stoor ’n kopie aanlyn voordat dit die lêer druk.
Why is there an apostrophe in ’n, and what does it represent?
’n is the indefinite article in Afrikaans, equivalent to English a/an. The apostrophe marks a historical contraction of the older Dutch form een (“one”). In modern spelling the vowel e has been dropped and replaced by the apostrophe, so ’n is simply pronounced /ən/.
How do you decide between using die and ’n before a noun?
die is the definite article meaning the, while ’n is indefinite meaning a/an. Use ’n when you introduce something new or unspecified (“’n kopie” = “a copy”) and die when you talk about something specific or already known (“die rekenaar” = “the computer”).
What is voordat, and why does it push the verb to the end of the clause?
voordat means before and is a subordinating conjunction. In Afrikaans subordinate clauses (introduced by words like voordat, as, omdat) the finite verb moves to the very end.
Main clause: Subject + Verb (V2) … (e.g. Die rekenaar stoor …)
Subordinate clause: Conjunction + Subject + Objects … + Verb (e.g. voordat dit die lêer druk).
What part of speech is aanlyn, and why is it written as one word?
aanlyn is an adverb (more precisely an adverbial phrase) meaning online. Afrikaans generally compounds aan (“on”) + lyn (“line”) into a single word without a hyphen, so you get aanlyn rather than aan-lyn or two separate words.
Why is dit used to refer back to die rekenaar instead of hy?
In Afrikaans, dit is the third-person neuter pronoun used for inanimate objects and abstract concepts. hy is reserved mainly for male persons (and sometimes animals). Since rekenaar (“computer”) is an object, we refer to it with dit.
What does the circumflex on the ê in lêer indicate?
The circumflex (ˆ) over ê shows that the vowel is long (/eː/) and helps distinguish lêer (“file”) from leer (“learn” or “leather”). It’s purely a spelling device indicating vowel quality/length.
Is stoor related to the English word “store,” and does it carry the same meaning?
Yes, stoor is cognate with English store (both from a Germanic root). In computing contexts stoor specifically means to save (as in saving a file), whereas English store can also mean to shop or a place that sells goods. Afrikaans uses stoor when you “store/save data.”
How is the noun rekenaar formed, and why does it mean “computer”?
rekenaar is built from the verb reken (“to calculate, reckon”) plus the agent-forming suffix -aar (one who does). Literally it means “that which calculates,” so it naturally came to denote a computer (a calculating machine).