Breakdown of Ons oplettendheid help ons om raaisels vinnig op te los.
ons
our
om
to
help
to help
ons
us
vinnig
quickly
die raaisel
the riddle
die oplettendheid
the attentiveness
oplos
to solve
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Questions & Answers about Ons oplettendheid help ons om raaisels vinnig op te los.
What does oplettendheid mean and how is it formed?
Oplettendheid is an abstract noun meaning attentiveness or alertness. It’s formed from the adjective oplettend (“attentive”) plus the suffix -heid, which turns adjectives into nouns indicating a quality or state.
Why is ons used twice in the sentence?
Afrikaans uses the subject pronoun before the verb and again as the object of help. The first ons is the subject of help (“our attentiveness helps”), and the second ons is the object (“helps us to…”).
Why do we need om and te in om raaisels vinnig op te los?
When you use help with another verb in Afrikaans, you introduce that second verb with om plus an infinitive. The infinitive uses te immediately before the verb stem. So help ons om … te doen = “helps us to … do.”
How does the separable verb oplos work in this infinitive clause?
Oplos (“to solve”) is a separable verb: prefix op + stem los. In the om … te construction, te goes before los, and the prefix op moves to the end: om raaisels vinnig op te los.
Why is vinnig placed before op te los?
Short adverbs of manner (like vinnig “quickly”) typically come right after the object (raaisels) but before the separated prefix (op) in an infinitive clause: raaisels vinnig op te los.
Why is there no article before raaisels?
Afrikaans generally does not use an indefinite article before plural nouns. Since raaisels is plural (“riddles”), you simply say raaisels without ’n.
What is the difference between English help us solve and Afrikaans help ons om … te?
In English you can say help us solve (no “to”). In Afrikaans help always takes om + te for the next verb: help iemand om iets te doen.
How do you pronounce oplettendheid?
Approximate phonetic spelling: OPEH-let-end-hait.
• Opeh like “OP-uh,”
• let like English “let,”
• end like “end,”
• hait rhymes with “sight.”