Hulle wag voor die deur.

they

Breakdown of Hulle wag voor die deur.

• wag: to wait
• die deur: the door
• voor: in front of

Questions & Answers about Hulle wag voor die deur.

What does Hulle mean in this sentence?

Hulle is the third-person plural pronoun “they” in Afrikaans. Use it whenever referring to more than one person or thing, regardless of gender.

Why doesn’t wag take an “-s” ending for hulle?

Afrikaans verbs stay the same for all persons and numbers in the present tense. So you say ek wag (I wait), jy wag (you wait), hulle wag (they wait) without adding or changing endings.

What tense is wag here, and how does it compare to English?

Wag is in the simple present tense. Unlike English, which often uses the present progressive (“they are waiting”), Afrikaans normally uses the simple present for ongoing actions: Hulle wag can mean “they wait” or “they are waiting.”

How do you pronounce wag, voor, and deur?

• wag: sounds like “vakh” – the w is like English v, the g a guttural sound (similar to the ch in German Bach).
• voor: pronounced “fohr” – long o, rolled r.
• deur: pronounced “dyr” with the vowel like the French eu in peur. Approximate IPA: [dyr].