Ons weet nou hoekom die kelner laat is: sy bus was stadig.

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Breakdown of Ons weet nou hoekom die kelner laat is: sy bus was stadig.

• nou: now
• wees: to be
• sy: his
• laat: late
• die bus: the bus
• stadig: slow
• hoekom: why
• die kelner: the waiter
• weet: to know

Questions & Answers about Ons weet nou hoekom die kelner laat is: sy bus was stadig.

Why is it Ons weet and not something like Ons ken?

Afrikaans usually uses weet for knowing a fact, answer, or piece of information.

• weet = know a fact / know that ...
• ken = know a person, place, or thing through familiarity

So in Ons weet nou hoekom ..., the idea is We now know why ..., meaning we know the reason. That is why weet is the correct verb here.

Examples:

• Ek weet die antwoord. = I know the answer.
• Ek ken daardie man. = I know that man.

What does nou mean here, and why is it placed there?

Nou usually means now.

In this sentence, Ons weet nou hoekom ..., it means we now know why ... or we know now why .... It comes after the verb weet, which is a very normal position in Afrikaans main clauses.

Afrikaans main-clause word order often puts the finite verb in the second position:

• Ons = subject
• weet = finite verb
• nou = time word
• hoekom die kelner laat is = the rest of the clause

So the placement is natural and grammatical.

Why is it hoekom? Could waarom also be used?

Yes, waarom could also be used. Both hoekom and waarom can mean why.

• hoekom is very common in everyday speech
• waarom can sound a bit more formal or careful, depending on context

So:

• Ons weet nou hoekom die kelner laat is.
• Ons weet nou waarom die kelner laat is.

Both are correct. A learner will hear hoekom very often in spoken Afrikaans.

Why is the word order hoekom die kelner laat is and not hoekom is die kelner laat?

Because this is an embedded clause, not a direct question.

Compare:

• Direct question: Hoekom is die kelner laat? = Why is the waiter late?
• Embedded clause: Ons weet nou hoekom die kelner laat is. = We now know why the waiter is late.

In Afrikaans, when a clause is introduced by a word like hoekom, dat, omdat, terwyl, etc., the finite verb typically moves toward the end of the clause.

So:

• die kelner laat is is the expected subordinate-clause order
• is die kelner laat would be direct-question order, so it would not fit here

Why is it laat is and not is laat?

For the same reason: this part is a subordinate clause.

In a main clause, you would say:

• Die kelner is laat.

But after hoekom, Afrikaans changes the word order:

• ... hoekom die kelner laat is

So is goes to the end of that clause. This is a very important Afrikaans pattern and one of the first big word-order rules learners notice.

What exactly does laat mean here?

Here laat means late.

It is an adjective describing die kelner:

• Die kelner is laat. = The waiter is late.

Be careful, because laat can also be part of verbs meaning let or make someone do something in other contexts. But in this sentence it is simply the adjective late.

Why is there a colon after is?

The colon introduces an explanation.

So the structure is:

• Ons weet nou hoekom die kelner laat is:
  we now know why the waiter is late
• sy bus was stadig.
  his bus was slow

The second part explains the first part. In English, you could also write this with a colon:

• We now know why the waiter is late: his bus was slow.

So the punctuation works very similarly.

Does sy bus mean his bus or her bus?

Here sy bus means his bus.

In Afrikaans:

• sy before a noun usually means his
• haar means her

So:

• sy bus = his bus
• haar bus = her bus

This can confuse learners because sy can also mean she when it is used as a subject pronoun:

• Sy is laat. = She is late.

But in sy bus, it is clearly a possessive word because it comes before a noun.

Why is it sy bus was stadig and not sy bus stadig was?

Because after the colon you have a new main clause, not a subordinate clause.

Main-clause order in Afrikaans usually keeps the finite verb in second position:

• sy bus = subject
• was = finite verb
• stadig = adjective

So:

• Sy bus was stadig. = correct main-clause order

If it were a subordinate clause, then was could move toward the end:

• ... omdat sy bus stadig was.

That contrast is very useful:

• Main clause: Sy bus was stadig.
• Subordinate clause: ... omdat sy bus stadig was.

What does stadig mean exactly? Is it always slow?

Here stadig means slow.

So sy bus was stadig means his bus was slow. In context, that explains why he was late.

Stadig can describe speed in a general way:

• a slow vehicle
• a slow person
• a slow process

Depending on context, English might sometimes translate the idea more naturally as taking a long time or moving slowly, but the basic meaning is still slow.

Why is there no word for that, as in We know now that ...?

Because English and Afrikaans structure this idea differently here.

In English, you might say:

• We now know why the waiter is late.

Afrikaans does the same:

• Ons weet nou hoekom die kelner laat is.

You do not need dat here because hoekom already introduces the content of what is known. It works like why in English.

You would use dat in a different type of sentence:

• Ons weet dat die kelner laat is. = We know that the waiter is late.

So:

• dat = that
• hoekom = why

They are not interchangeable.

Could this sentence use omdat instead of hoekom?

Not in the same place with the same structure.

• hoekom = why
• omdat = because

The sentence as written means:

• We now know why the waiter is late: his bus was slow.

If you use omdat, you would be building a different sentence, such as:

• Die kelner is laat omdat sy bus stadig was. = The waiter is late because his bus was slow.

So hoekom asks for or introduces the reason, while omdat gives the reason directly.

Is die kelner definitely the waiter? Can it also mean the server more generally?

Yes, die kelner most directly means the waiter.

In real usage, it can also function more generally as the server in a restaurant context, depending on how specifically you want to translate it. But the basic word is the standard one for a male waiter.

If you want to talk about a waitress specifically, Afrikaans may use a different form or simply rely on context, depending on region and style.

For this sentence, the waiter is the clearest translation.

What is the basic sentence pattern I should learn from this example?

A very useful pattern is:

main clause + subordinate clause introduced by a question word

Example:

• Ons weet nou hoekom die kelner laat is.

Pattern:

• Ons weet nou ... = main clause
• hoekom die kelner laat is = subordinate clause

The key thing to remember is:

• In a main clause, the finite verb usually comes second.
• In a subordinate clause, the finite verb usually goes to the end.

So this one sentence teaches two important Afrikaans word-order rules at once:

1. Ons weet nou ... → normal main-clause order
2. ... hoekom die kelner laat is → subordinate-clause order with is at the end