Hy hou die boek.

He holds the book.

Breakdown of Hy hou die boek.

• hy: he
• die: the
• die boek: the book
• hou: to hold

Questions & Answers about Hy hou die boek.

What does hy mean in this sentence?

hy is the 3rd-person singular pronoun “he.” In Afrikaans, hy is used for male humans (and sometimes masculine-associated animals), and it does not change form for case or number.

What is hou, and why is it the same no matter who is doing the holding?

hou is the verb “to hold” (or “to keep”). In the present tense, Afrikaans verbs do not conjugate for person or number, so you say:

• Ek hou (I hold)
• Jy hou (you hold)
• Sy hou (she holds)
• Hy hou (he holds)
• Ons hou (we hold)
• Hulle hou (they hold)

The past tense is formed with het plus the past participle gehou:

• Hy het die boek gehou. (He held the book.)

Why is the word die used here, and how would you say “a book”?

die is the definite article “the,” used for all genders and numbers. Afrikaans does not distinguish gender in articles. For the indefinite article “a/an,” use ’n (pronounced like the English short “uh”):

• Hy hou die boek. – He holds the book.
• Hy hou ’n boek. – He holds a book.

Can hou mean “like” as well as “hold”?

Yes. To say “to like,” you add the preposition van (“of/from”):

• Hy hou van die boek. – He likes the book.

Without van, hou always means physically holding or keeping.

How do you negate this sentence: “He does not hold the book”?

Afrikaans uses double nie for negation. You place the first nie after the verb phrase and the second nie at the end:

• Hy hou nie die boek nie. – He does not hold the book.

If I want to replace die boek with “it,” what pronoun do I use?

Use dit for “it” (neuter or general objects):

• Hy hou dit. – He holds it.

For people, you’d use hom (“him”) or haar (“her”).

Is the word order here the same as in English?

Yes. A simple Afrikaans declarative sentence follows Subject–Verb–Object (SVO), just like English:

• Subject (Hy) – Verb (hou) – Object (die boek).

More complex sentences (questions, subordinate clauses) shift the verb position, but this basic pattern is identical to English.