Die dekbrief is kort.

to be

Breakdown of Die dekbrief is kort.

• kort: short
• die dekbrief: the cover letter for an application

Questions & Answers about Die dekbrief is kort.

What does die mean here?

Here, die is the definite article, so it means the.

A useful thing for English speakers to know is that Afrikaans does not usually change the for gender. So unlike languages such as German or Dutch, you generally just use die for singular and plural nouns:

• die brief = the letter
• die briewe = the letters

So in Die dekbrief is kort, die simply means the.

What is dekbrief? Is it one word?

Yes, dekbrief is one word. Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, often forms compound nouns by joining words together.

• dek = cover
• brief = letter

So dekbrief is literally something like cover-letter, written as a single word.

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often writes similar ideas as two words, but Afrikaans often combines them:

• huiswerk = homework
• sonbril = sunglasses / sun glasses

Why is the word order Die dekbrief is kort?