Hy hou die boek.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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

• Hy hou dit. – He holds it.

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

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.