Die kussing is sag en warm.

to be

Breakdown of Die kussing is sag en warm.

• en: and
• warm: warm
• sag: soft

Questions & Answers about Die kussing is sag en warm.

What is the function of die in this sentence?

die is the definite article in Afrikaans, equivalent to the in English. It does not change for gender or number: you use die before both singular and plural nouns.

Why is the verb is used here instead of different forms like “am” or “are”?

In Afrikaans the present‐tense form of “to be” is always is, regardless of the subject. So you say Ek is, Jy is, Hy is, Ons is, etc., just like in Die kussing is sag en warm.

Why do the adjectives sag and warm have no ending – shouldn’t they take -e?

Because these adjectives are used predicatively (after the verb is). Predicative adjectives in Afrikaans always stay in their base form and never take an -e. Only attributive adjectives (those placed before a noun) may get an -e if they are eligible.

If I wanted to describe the pillow before the noun, how would I say “the soft pillow”?

That would be attributive, so you add an -e to sag:
• die sagte kussing.
(Remember: warm is one of the adjectives that never takes -e, so it remains warm even attributively.)