Kom ons gaan uit!

In Afrikaans, Kom ons ... is a very common pattern for making a suggestion, like English let’s ....

So:

• Kom ons gaan uit! = Let’s go out!

Here, kom does not need to be understood literally as come. It functions as part of the invitation/suggestion pattern Kom ons ...

You can think of it as:

• Come, let us go out! → natural English: Let’s go out!

Ons means we/us.

In the expression Kom ons ..., it is the equivalent of the us in older-style English let us.

So:

• Kom ons gaan uit = literally something like Come, us go out
• natural meaning = Let’s go out

Afrikaans often separates the parts of a separable verb in a sentence.

The verb here is uitgaan = to go out.

In an infinitive or dictionary form:

• uitgaan = to go out

But in a main clause, the parts can split:

• Ons gaan uit. = We are going out / We go out.

So in:

• Kom ons gaan uit!

the verb uitgaan appears as:

• gaan
  • uit

This is normal Afrikaans word order.

Not always. Uitgaan can mean several related things, depending on context:

• go out socially
• go out of the house/building
• sometimes date, in the right context

So Kom ons gaan uit! usually means something like:

• Let’s go out.
• Let’s go out somewhere.
• Let’s go out and do something.

If the context is romantic, it could possibly suggest a date, but by itself it usually just means going out socially.

Yes, Laat ons ... is possible, and it also means let us ..., but it sounds more formal, more written, or sometimes a bit old-fashioned in everyday speech.

Compare:

• Kom ons gaan uit! = common, natural, conversational
• Laat ons uitgaan. = more formal or deliberate

In everyday spoken Afrikaans, Kom ons ... is usually the more natural choice.

Afrikaans does not usually use one single word equivalent to English let’s. Instead, it commonly uses a phrase, especially:

• Kom ons ...

So English compresses the idea into one form:

• let’s

Afrikaans often expresses the same idea with two words:

• Kom ons

That is just a normal difference between the two languages.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

• Kom ≈ khom / kom
• ons ≈ ons
• gaan ≈ khaan / ghaan with a guttural g
• uit ≈ roughly ate or uhyt, depending on accent

A rough full pronunciation could be:

• Khom ons khaan uyt

A few important points:

• Afrikaans g is usually a guttural sound, not the English g in go
• aa in gaan is a long vowel
• ui in uit is a difficult Afrikaans vowel for many English speakers

It is generally informal to neutral and very natural in speech.

You would use it with:

• friends
• family
• classmates
• people you know well

It sounds like a friendly suggestion or invitation. It is not rude, but it is casual.

The exclamation mark shows energy, enthusiasm, or encouragement.

So:

• Kom ons gaan uit! = enthusiastic suggestion: Let’s go out!
• Kom ons gaan uit. = same basic meaning, but flatter and less lively

In real speech, this sentence is often used excitedly, so the exclamation mark fits well.

Yes, very often. It is a productive pattern.

Examples:

• Kom ons eet. = Let’s eat.
• Kom ons loop. = Let’s walk / Let’s leave.
• Kom ons kyk. = Let’s look / Let’s see.
• Kom ons begin. = Let’s begin.

So once you learn Kom ons ..., you can use it with many verbs to make suggestions.

The meaning is the same; the difference is mainly grammatical.

• uitgaan = the full infinitive/dictionary form
• gaan ... uit = the split form used in a normal clause

For example:

• Ek wil uitgaan. = I want to go out.
• Ek gaan vanaand uit. = I’m going out tonight.

So in your sentence:

• Kom ons gaan uit!

the split form is required by normal sentence structure.