Ek was moeg, en toe het ek gaan slaap.

I was tired, and then I went to sleep.

Breakdown of Ek was moeg, en toe het ek gaan slaap.

• ek: I
• hê: to have
• wees: to be
• en: and

Questions & Answers about Ek was moeg, en toe het ek gaan slaap.

Why is the first part Ek was moeg and not Ek is moeg?

Because was is the past tense of is / wees.

• Ek is moeg = I am tired
• Ek was moeg = I was tired

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a past situation, so was is the right form.

Why do we use was here instead of het ... gewees?

Afrikaans often uses was as the normal past form of wees in simple statements like this.

So:

• Ek was moeg = the normal, natural way to say I was tired
• Ek het moeg gewees is also possible, but it is less simple and less natural in a sentence like this

A good learner rule is:

• for to be in the past, was is very common
• for many other verbs, Afrikaans usually uses het
  • another verb form

What does toe mean here?