Breakdown of Ons kyk ’n fliek in die motor wanneer dit begin reën.
ons
we
die
the
in
in
dit
it
’n
a
wanneer
when
reën
to rain
begin
to start
die motor
the car
kyk
to watch
die fliek
the movie
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Afrikaans grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Ons kyk ’n fliek in die motor wanneer dit begin reën.
What does ’n mean in ’n fliek?
’n is the indefinite article in Afrikaans—equivalent to English a or an. It’s always written with an apostrophe before the n, does not change for gender or number, and always precedes a noun (e.g. ’n boek, ’n hond, ’n fliek).
Why don’t we say kyk na ’n fliek instead of kyk ’n fliek?
In Afrikaans kyk can be transitive when it means “to watch.” So you say kyk ’n fliek (watch a movie). If you add na, kyk na means “to look at” or “to pay attention to” (e.g. Ek kyk na die bord = “I look at the board”).
Why is there no te before reën in begin reën?
Unlike Dutch, Afrikaans allows semi-modal verbs like begin, help and kom to be followed directly by a bare infinitive. So you say dit begin reën (it starts to rain), not begin te reën.
What kind of construction is begin reën?
It’s a catenative or semi-modal construction: one verb (begin) governs another verb in the bare infinitive (reën). The first verb carries the main tense meaning, and the second verb completes the idea.
What does wanneer do here, and how is it different from as?
wanneer is a temporal conjunction meaning “when” or “whenever.” Use wanneer for real‐time or habitual situations (Whenever it rains…), and as for conditional or hypothetical ones (If it rains tomorrow…).
Why doesn’t wanneer push the verb to the end of its clause?
In Afrikaans, some subordinating conjunctions (like dat, omdat, voordat) trigger a V-final order, but wanneer does not. After wanneer you use the regular subject-verb-object order: wanneer dit begin reën (when it starts raining).
How do you express the idea of “We are watching a movie” (continuous tense) in Afrikaans?
Afrikaans doesn’t have a separate continuous tense. The simple present Ons kyk ’n fliek can mean “We watch a movie” or “We are watching a movie,” depending on context. If you really want to stress the ongoing action you can say: Ons is besig om ’n fliek te kyk (“We are busy watching a movie”).
Why is it in die motor and not op die motor or something else?
in die motor literally means “in the car.” You use in for being inside a vehicle. op die motor would mean “on top of the car.” You can also say binne-in die motor for extra emphasis, but in die motor is the normal phrasing.