Ons besoek die land.

We visit the country.

Breakdown of Ons besoek die land.

• ons: we
• besoek: to visit
• die land: the country

Questions & Answers about Ons besoek die land.

What does ons mean here?

Ons means we.

It is the subject pronoun, so it tells you who is doing the action. In this sentence, ons is the group that is visiting.

A useful extra point: in Afrikaans, ons can also mean us in some contexts, so learners often need to rely on word order to see whether it means we or us.

Why is besoek not changed to match ons?

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change form depending on the subject.

So:

• Ek besoek = I visit
• Jy besoek = you visit
• Ons besoek = we visit
• Hulle besoek = they visit

This is simpler than English, where you sometimes get changes like I visit but he visits. Afrikaans generally keeps the verb form the same.

What kind of word is besoek?

Here, besoek is a verb meaning visit.

It can also exist as a noun in other contexts, meaning a visit or a visitor-related visit/event, depending on usage. But in Ons besoek die land, it is clearly the verb because it comes after the subject and expresses the action.