Die eiendomsagent is vriendelik.

to be

Breakdown of Die eiendomsagent is vriendelik.

• vriendelik: friendly
• die eiendomsagent: the estate agent

Questions & Answers about Die eiendomsagent is vriendelik.

What does die mean here, and is it pronounced like the English word die?

Here die means the.

It is not pronounced like the English verb die. In Afrikaans, it is pronounced roughly like dee.

A useful extra point: die is the normal definite article for:

• singular nouns: die eiendomsagent = the estate agent
• plural nouns: die eiendomsagente = the estate agents

So Afrikaans does not switch between different forms like English the vs something gendered.

Why is Die capitalized?

It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

Afrikaans does not capitalize all nouns the way German does. So:

• Die eiendomsagent is vriendelik.
• Ek sien die eiendomsagent.

In the second sentence, die is lowercase because it is no longer at the beginning.

Does Afrikaans have grammatical gender? Why is it just die?