Indien daar nerens ’n sleutel is nie, sal die hond onrustig raak.

If there is no key anywhere, the dog will become restless.

Breakdown of Indien daar nerens ’n sleutel is nie, sal die hond onrustig raak.

• die hond: the dog
• die: the
• wees: to be
• nie: not
• sal: will
• ’n: a
• daar: there
• die sleutel: the key
• indien: if
• nerens: nowhere
• onrustig: restless
• raak: to become

Questions & Answers about Indien daar nerens ’n sleutel is nie, sal die hond onrustig raak.

Why is there both nerens and nie in the conditional clause? Isn’t that a double negative?

In Afrikaans, negative adverbs like nerens (nowhere), nooit (never) and niks (nothing) always require the negative particle nie at the end of the clause. This is the standard negation pattern. So you get:

• nerens expresses “nowhere”
• nie completes the negation

Together they form a complete negation even though it looks like a double negative.

How does the verb order work in the subordinate clause introduced by Indien? I thought the verb should be right at the end.

Indien is a subordinating conjunction (like “if”), so the finite verb moves to the end of its clause. When you add negation, nie follows the verb. The breakdown of Indien daar nerens ’n sleutel is nie is:

1. Indien (conjunction)
2. daar (existential “there”)
3. nerens (negative adverb)
4. ’n sleutel (subject)
5. is (finite verb)
6. nie (negation)

What’s the role of daar at the beginning of the clause?

Daar in this sentence is an expletive or dummy subject used for existential statements:

• Daar is ’n sleutel. = “There is a key.”
  It doesn’t refer to a location but simply introduces the existence of something. Without daar, you’d need a different construction to say the same thing.

Why is ’n written with an apostrophe?

The indefinite article ’n is a contraction of een (one). Modern spelling rules say:

• The apostrophe marks the missing e.
• It corresponds to English a/an.
• You only capitalize it at the start of a sentence.

What’s the difference between Indien and As for “if”?

Both mean “if,” but their usage differs:

• As is common in speech and informal writing.
• Indien is more formal or used in official/written contexts.
  Examples:
• As daar niks is nie, sal ons wag.
• Indien daar niks is nie, sal ons wag.

Why are there two verbs in sal die hond onrustig raak?

Afrikaans uses sal as a future-tense auxiliary plus a main verb:

• sal = “will” (marks future)
• raak = “become” (main verb)
• onrustig = “restless”

So sal … raak together mean “will become.”

Could we use word onrustig instead of raak onrustig?

Yes. Both mean “become restless,” but:

• raak onrustig is more idiomatic and common in everyday speech.
• word onrustig is also correct and slightly more formal.
  Examples:
• Die hond sal onrustig raak.
• Die hond sal onrustig word.

Why do we say Daar is ’n sleutel for existence, but ’n sleutel is daar sounds odd?

In Afrikaans existential clauses:

• Daar is ’n sleutel = “There is a key” (introduces existence).
• ’n sleutel is daar = “A key is there” (locative, pointing out its position).
  Starting with daar signals an existential meaning rather than a statement about location.