Wat van Saterdag? Wanneer kan jy? Waar ontmoet ons?

Wat van ... ? is a very common Afrikaans way to suggest or raise an option, just like English What about ... ?

So:

• Wat van Saterdag? = What about Saturday?

The phrase Hoe gaan dit met ... ? means something more like How is ... doing? or How is it going with ...?, so it would not sound natural here.

In Afrikaans, the names of days of the week are capitalized.

Examples:

• Maandag = Monday
• Dinsdag = Tuesday
• Woensdag = Wednesday
• Donderdag = Thursday
• Vrydag = Friday
• Saterdag = Saturday
• Sondag = Sunday

So Saterdag must begin with a capital letter.

Wanneer means when in questions like this:

• Wanneer kan jy? = When can you?

It is the normal question word when asking about time. In some contexts Afrikaans may also use toe or other time-related words, but for a direct question about time, wanneer is the standard choice.

In a direct question, Afrikaans usually puts the verb early in the sentence, much like English inversion:

• Wanneer kan jy? = When can you?

Here:

• Wanneer = question word
• kan = verb
• jy = subject

So the pattern is:

• Question word + verb + subject

Compare:

• Waar woon jy? = Where do you live?
• Wanneer kom hy? = When is he coming?

If you said Wanneer jy kan, that would sound incomplete on its own and more like part of a larger sentence, such as Kom wanneer jy kan = Come when you can.

Kan jy literally means can you.

In this sentence, it usually means:

• When are you available?
• When can you make it?

So it is not only about physical ability. Just like in English, can can refer to availability or possibility.

Afrikaans does not use a helper verb like English do in these kinds of questions.

English:

• When do you come?
• Where do we meet?

Afrikaans:

• Wanneer kom jy?
• Waar ontmoet ons?

So Afrikaans forms these questions without an extra equivalent of English do.

Waar means where.

So:

• Waar ontmoet ons? = Where do we meet?

It is the normal question word for place or location.

Other examples:

• Waar is jy? = Where are you?
• Waar woon hulle? = Where do they live?

Because this is a direct question introduced by a question word.

In normal statement word order, you would say:

• Ons ontmoet daar. = We meet there.

But in a direct question with waar, the verb comes before the subject:

• Waar ontmoet ons? = Where do we meet?

This is a very important Afrikaans pattern:

• statement: Ons kom môre.
• question: Wanneer kom ons?

Ontmoet means meet.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• to meet someone
• to meet up
• to meet at a place

Here, Waar ontmoet ons? means Where are we meeting? or Where shall we meet?

They are very close, but not exactly the same in feel.

• Waar ontmoet ons? = Where do we meet? / Where are we meeting?
• Waar gaan ons ontmoet? = Where are we going to meet?

The version with gaan can sound a little more explicitly future-oriented. The shorter version is very natural in everyday Afrikaans when the future is clear from context.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present tense where English might use shall, will, or are ... going to.

So:

• Waar ontmoet ons? can mean:
  • Where do we meet?
  • Where shall we meet?
  • Where are we meeting?

The exact English translation depends on context, but Afrikaans does not always need a separate future marker.

Usually no. Afrikaans normally keeps the subject pronoun.

So you say:

• Wanneer kan jy?
• Waar ontmoet ons?

Leaving out jy or ons would usually sound incomplete or ungrammatical in standard Afrikaans.

Jy is the Afrikaans word for you (singular/informal, and often also general you in everyday use).

Its pronunciation is roughly like yay or yey, but the exact vowel is Afrikaans-specific. The j in Afrikaans sounds like English y, not like English j in job.

So:

• jy begins with a y sound.

Usually in this context, no. It normally means What about Saturday? as a suggestion.

Tone and context matter, though. In some situations, Wat van ... ? could challenge or propose an alternative, but the basic meaning is still What about ... ?, not What is wrong with ... ?

Yes, very natural.

Afrikaans often uses short, direct questions in casual conversation:

• Wat van Saterdag?
• Wanneer kan jy?
• Waar ontmoet ons?

This sounds normal, efficient, and conversational—especially when two people are making plans.