Wanneer daar geen krag is nie, kook ons nie en bly die kombuis donker.

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Breakdown of Wanneer daar geen krag is nie, kook ons nie en bly die kombuis donker.

• wees: to be
• nie: not
• en: and

Questions & Answers about Wanneer daar geen krag is nie, kook ons nie en bly die kombuis donker.

Why is daar in Wanneer daar geen krag is nie? It looks like there in English, but it does not seem to mean location.

Here daar is an existential word, like English there in there is / there are.

So:

• Daar is krag. = There is power.
• Daar is geen krag nie. = There is no power.

It does not mean a physical place here. It is just part of the structure used to say that something exists or does not exist.

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Why is is near the end in Wanneer daar geen krag is nie?

Because wanneer introduces a subordinate clause, and in Afrikaans subordinate clauses usually send the finite verb toward the end.

Compare:

• Main clause: Daar is geen krag nie.
• Subordinate clause: Wanneer daar geen krag is nie

So the word order changes after wanneer.

A useful pattern is:

• Wanneer + subject/material + verb + nie

That is why you get is near the end instead of earlier in the clause.

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Why do we say geen krag and not just nie krag?