Lanklaas gesien! Hoe gaan dit? Wat doen jy Saterdag?

Lanklaas is a fixed Afrikaans adverb. It means something like a long time ago, after a long time, or for ages depending on context.

In Lanklaas gesien!, it helps create the idea of Long time no see! or Haven’t seen you in ages!

It is best to learn lanklaas as one unit rather than trying to split it up word by word.

Because this is an idiomatic, shortened exclamation. Afrikaans often drops words in casual greetings and set phrases when the meaning is obvious from context.

So Lanklaas gesien! is not the best model for building a normal past-tense sentence from scratch. It is more like an everyday expression, just as English says Long time no see!, which is also not a fully regular sentence.

A learner should treat it as a useful chunk of language.

Yes, it is informal and friendly. It is perfect for greeting someone you know when you have not seen them for a while.

It would sound natural with:

• friends
• relatives
• classmates
• colleagues in a casual setting

In a very formal situation, you would usually choose a fuller and more neutral sentence instead.

Hoe gaan dit? is the standard idiomatic way to say How are things going? / How are you?

Here, dit literally means it, but it does not point to one specific thing. It refers more generally to how things are going.

If you want to mention the person more directly, you can also say:

• Hoe gaan dit met jou? = How are you?

That is often more natural than Hoe gaan jy? when you are asking about someone’s general well-being.

Afrikaans main clauses usually follow a verb-second pattern.

In Wat doen jy Saterdag?:

• Wat = question word
• doen = finite verb
• jy = subject
• Saterdag = time expression

So the order is:

• question word first
• verb second
• subject after the verb

That is why it is Wat doen jy ...? and not Wat jy doen ...?

Afrikaans very often uses the present tense for future meaning when the time is already clear.

So:

• Wat doen jy Saterdag? literally looks like What do you do Saturday?
• but naturally it means What are you doing on Saturday?

The word Saterdag already makes the future time clear, so no extra future marker is necessary.

This works much like English in sentences such as What are you doing Saturday?

In Afrikaans, day names are often used without a preposition when they function as time expressions.

So Wat doen jy Saterdag? is the normal way to say What are you doing on Saturday?

Similarly:

• Ek werk Maandag. = I’m working on Monday.
• Ons vertrek Vrydag. = We leave on Friday.

English usually needs on, but Afrikaans often does not.

Yes. Jy is the normal informal singular you.

If you want to be more polite or formal, you can use u:

• Wat doen u Saterdag?
• Hoe gaan dit met u?

In everyday Afrikaans, jy is extremely common, and u is used mainly in more formal, respectful, or professional situations.

Some natural replies would be:

To Hoe gaan dit?

• Goed, dankie. En jy? = Good, thanks. And you?
• Dit gaan goed. = It’s going well.

To Wat doen jy Saterdag?

• Ek werk Saterdag. = I’m working on Saturday.
• Ek kuier by vriende. = I’m visiting friends / hanging out with friends.
• Ek het nog geen planne nie. = I don’t have any plans yet.

So the whole exchange sounds very natural and conversational.