Die baas lees nou die nuwe verslag.

The boss reads the new report now.

Breakdown of Die baas lees nou die nuwe verslag.

• lees: to read
• nou: now
• die: the
• nuut: new

Questions & Answers about Die baas lees nou die nuwe verslag.

Why is die baas lees nou die nuwe verslag translated as “The boss reads the new report” and not “The boss is reading the new report”?

Afrikaans normally uses the simple present tense (reads) with a time adverb (nou = now) to express ongoing actions. The presence of nou makes it clear the action is happening at this moment. If you want an explicit continuous form, you can say:
Die baas is nou besig om die nuwe verslag te lees.

What does the article die do, and why does it appear twice?

Afrikaans has only one definite article, die, for all genders and numbers. It corresponds to English “the.” You use die before any noun you want to make definite. Here it marks both baas (boss) and verslag (report) as “the boss” and “the report.”

Why does nuwe end in -e?

When an adjective directly precedes a definite noun (one marked by die, a demonstrative, possessive, etc.), it takes an ‑e ending. Hence die nuwe verslag (“the new report”). Without the article (in some special indefinite constructions) the adjective might not take ‑e, but with die it always does.

Why is the adverb nou placed between the verb and the object?