Ek verstaan nou die oefening.

I understand the exercise now.

Breakdown of Ek verstaan nou die oefening.

• ek: I
• nou: now
• die: the
• verstaan: to understand

Questions & Answers about Ek verstaan nou die oefening.

What does Ek mean?

Ek translates to I in English and is the first-person singular subject pronoun in Afrikaans.

What part of speech is verstaan, and how does it translate?

Verstaan is the infinitive form of a verb meaning to understand (it can also mean to hear in some contexts). For present-tense statements you always use the base form.

Why isn’t verstaan conjugated for I, like we do in English?

Afrikaans verbs don’t change form for person or number. Whether the subject is ek, jy, hulle, etc., you always use the infinitive stem (here verstaan) in the present tense.

What is the role of nou in this sentence?

Nou means now. It’s an adverb indicating that the understanding is happening at this moment or has just occurred.

Why is nou placed between the verb and the object instead of at the end?