Hy vertel ’n grappige grap in die klas, en almal lag.

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Breakdown of Hy vertel ’n grappige grap in die klas, en almal lag.

• die: the
• in: in
• en: and

Questions & Answers about Hy vertel ’n grappige grap in die klas, en almal lag.

Why is the indefinite article written as ’n and not as een or simply n?

In Afrikaans the indefinite article “a/an” is always written as ’n (pronounced like “uhn”). It’s actually a contraction of een (“one”), but when used as an article you always write it as ’n. You can’t drop the apostrophe or spell it out as een in this context.

Why does grappige end with -e instead of remaining grappig?

Adjectives in Afrikaans get an -e ending when they stand directly before a noun and there’s any kind of determiner (definite article die, indefinite ’n, possessive like sy/my, demonstratives like hierdie, etc.). Since you have ’n before grappige grap, you add -e to grappig.

Could you say hy vertel grappige grap in klas without articles?

No. Unlike English, Afrikaans generally requires an article or other determiner with countable singular nouns. You need ’n (or die, or another determiner) before grappige grap and die before klas.

In the second clause, why is the order en almal lag rather than en lag almal?