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Indien jy onthou om aandag te gee, sal jy die risiko vermy en die oplossing vind.

Indien jy onthou om aandag te gee, sal jy die risiko vermy en die oplossing vind.
If you remember to pay attention, you will avoid the risk and find the solution.
FromLesson 13inHardcore Afrikaans

Questions & Answers about Indien jy onthou om aandag te gee, sal jy die risiko vermy en die oplossing vind.

Why is Indien used instead of As to mean “if”?

In Afrikaans both as and indien can translate as “if,” but they have slightly different tones and uses.

  • as is more neutral and also often means “when.”
  • indien only means “if” and sounds a bit more formal or written.
    So in a conditional statement like this, indien makes it clear you’re presenting a hypothetical rather than talking about “when” something happens.
Why do we invert sal and jy in the main clause (i.e. “sal jy” instead of “jy sal”)?

Afrikaans follows a V2 (verb-second) rule for main clauses. When a subordinate clause or adverbial phrase comes first (here, Indien …), the finite verb moves to the start of the following main clause. That’s why after the comma you get:
Indien …, sal jy …
instead of
Indien …, jy sal …

What role does om … te play in “onthou om aandag te gee”? Why isn’t it just “onthou gee aandag”?

The om … te construction marks an infinitive clause in Afrikaans, similar to “to … ” in English.

  • om
    • [object] + te
      • [verb]
        Here: om aandag te gee = “to give attention.”
        You can’t drop the om and te or invert them; they are required to form a subordinate infinitive.
Why is there no aan after aandag gee? Shouldn’t “give attention to” be aandag gee aan?

aandag gee is a complete transitive verb (“to pay attention”). You only add aan if you specify what you pay attention to, e.g.:
Geef aandag aan die instructies.
But when you simply say “remember to pay attention,” you don’t need aan.

How can one auxiliary sal govern two verbs (vermý and vind)? Why isn’t there a second sal?

Afrikaans allows you to coordinate two (or more) infinitives under a single auxiliary. The structure is:
sal + subject + [object + infinitive] en [object + infinitive]
Here:
… sal jy die risiko vermy en die oplossing vind
Adding a second sal would be redundant.

Why is die repeated in “die risiko vermy en die oplossing vind” instead of saying “die risiko vermy en oplossing vind”?

When you coordinate two distinct noun phrases with en, it’s clearer and more idiomatic to give each its own article. That way each object stands on its own:
die risiko … en die oplossing …
Dropping the second die can make the sentence feel rushed or ambiguous.

Why is there a comma after the first clause?
In Afrikaans, when a subordinate clause (introduced by a conjunction like indien) comes before the main clause, you separate them with a comma. It signals the end of the “if” clause and the start of the consequences.

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