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Questions & Answers about Die muur is laag.
What is the role of die in Die muur is laag?
die is the definite article in Afrikaans, equivalent to English the. It precedes nouns to indicate definiteness, regardless of gender or number.
Why is muur not capitalized in Die muur is laag?
In Afrikaans, only the first word of a sentence and proper names are capitalized. Common nouns like muur (wall) are written in lowercase.
How do you pronounce Die muur is laag?
• Die sounds like English dee (long i).
• muur has a long u pronounced like the ü in German (close-front rounded vowel), roughly myr.
• is is like English iss.
• laag has a long aa pronounced like the a in father, plus a soft g at the end, almost like clearing your throat softly.
Put together it’s approximately:
dee myr iss laahkh
Why doesn't laag take an -e ending in Die muur is laag?
Because laag here is a predicative adjective (it follows the verb is). Predicative adjectives in Afrikaans remain in their base form and do not take an .