Draai ons nou om?

Are we turning around now?

Breakdown of Draai ons nou om?

• ons: we
• nou: now
• omdraai: to turn around

Questions & Answers about Draai ons nou om?

Why does the sentence start with Draai instead of ons?

Because this is a yes/no question in Afrikaans. In main-clause yes/no questions, the finite verb usually comes first.

• Statement: Ons draai nou om. — We are turning around now.
• Question: Draai ons nou om? — Are we turning around now?

So the word order is similar to English inversion in questions like Are we leaving now?

Does ons mean we or us here?

Here, ons means we.

Afrikaans uses ons for both we and us, so the function depends on the sentence structure.

In Draai ons nou om?, ons is the subject, so it means we.

Examples:

• Ons loop huis toe. — We are walking home.
• Hy sien ons. — He sees us.

What does om mean here?