Ek onthou jou belofte.

I

Breakdown of Ek onthou jou belofte.

• jou: your
• die belofte: the promise
• onthou: to remember

Questions & Answers about Ek onthou jou belofte.

What does each word in Ek onthou jou belofte mean and what are their parts of speech?

• Ek = I (subject pronoun)
• onthou = remember (verb)
• jou = your (possessive pronoun)
• belofte = promise (noun)

How is onthou pronounced in Afrikaans?

A close approximation in IPA is /ɔnˈtʰəu/. In more familiar spelling you could write it as ohn-THOH, with a slightly aspirated t and a long ou as in English go.

Why is there no preposition before jou belofte, while in Dutch I sometimes see onthouden aan?

In Afrikaans onthou is a direct transitive verb, just like English remember. It takes a direct object (jou belofte) without any preposition. The Dutch cognate onthouden also usually has no aan for “remember”; you use herinneren aan to mean “remind.”

What’s the difference between onthou and herinner?