Ek vee my hande af met 'n handdoek.

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Breakdown of Ek vee my hande af met 'n handdoek.

• 'n: a
• my: my
• met: with

Questions & Answers about Ek vee my hande af met 'n handdoek.

Why is af separated from vee?

Because afvee is a separable verb in Afrikaans.

• The full verb is afvee = to wipe off / wipe dry

• In a main clause, the finite verb goes to the second position, and the separable part moves to the end:

• Ek vee my hande af. = I wipe my hands off / dry my hands.

But in forms like the infinitive, the parts stay together:

• om my hande af te vee = to wipe my hands
• Ek wil my hande afvee. = I want to wipe my hands.

This is very similar to separable verbs in Dutch and a bit like English phrasal verbs such as wipe off.

What does vee mean by itself, and what does vee af mean here?

By itself, vee usually means sweep or wipe.

Examples:

• Ek vee die vloer. = I sweep the floor.
• Ek vee die tafel. = I wipe the table.

With af, it becomes more specific:

• vee af / afvee = wipe off, wipe away, or in this context wipe dry

So in this sentence, vee ... af means something like:

• wipe my hands with a towel
• dry my hands by wiping them