Breakdown of Hy draai links by die ou brug.
hy
he
die
the
by
at
die brug
the bridge
draai
to turn
links
left
ou
old
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Questions & Answers about Hy draai links by die ou brug.
What part of speech is hy and what does it mean here?
hy is the third-person singular pronoun meaning he.
What does draai mean, and is it transitive or intransitive?
draai means turn. Here it’s used intransitively (no direct object) to indicate a change of direction.
What part of speech is links, and why is it placed after draai?
links is an adverb meaning left. Afrikaans typically places directional adverbs immediately after the verb (verb + adverb).
Why isn’t there a preposition like na before links?
You can say draai na links, but in everyday directions the simple draai links is more idiomatic; a preposition isn’t required for direction adverbs.
What does by mean here, and what role does it play?
by is a preposition meaning at, by or next to; it marks the location where the turn happens.
Why is die used before ou brug?
die is the definite article the used for all nouns (Afrikaans has no grammatical gender), specifying the old bridge.
Why does the adjective ou come before brug?
Like English, Afrikaans generally places adjectives before the nouns they modify, so ou brug = old bridge.
How would you put the same idea in the past tense?
Use the auxiliary het and place the past participle gedraai at the end:
Hy het links by die ou brug gedraai.
Can I say draai na links by die ou brug or draai links af by die ou brug?
Yes. draai na links (“turn to the left”) is correct but a bit more formal;
draai links af uses the separable verb afdraaien (“to turn off/away”):
Hy draai links af by die ou brug.
Is there any grammatical gender in Afrikaans that affects die?
No. Afrikaans nouns have no grammatical gender; die serves as the for all genders and numbers.