Die posbode sê dat die brief môre by daardie adres sal aankom.

that

Breakdown of Die posbode sê dat die brief môre by daardie adres sal aankom.

• by: at
• môre: tomorrow
• sal: will

Questions & Answers about Die posbode sê dat die brief môre by daardie adres sal aankom.

Why does die appear twice in Die posbode and die brief?

Because die is the normal definite article in Afrikaans for the.

Unlike languages such as German or Dutch, Afrikaans does not change the article for gender. So you use die for all definite singular nouns and also for plural nouns in most cases.

• die posbode = the postman / the mail carrier
• die brief = the letter

So seeing die more than once in the same sentence is completely normal.

What does dat mean here?

Dat means that.

It introduces a subordinate clause after sê:

• Die posbode sê = The postman says
• dat die brief môre by daardie adres sal aankom = that the letter will arrive at that address tomorrow

So dat works very much like English that in a sentence such as He says that the letter will arrive tomorrow.

Why is sal not right next to aankom?