Kennis is belangrik.

It follows a very simple pattern:

subject + verb + adjective/complement

• Kennis = the subject
• is = the verb to be
• belangrik = an adjective meaning important

So the structure is very close to English: Knowledge is important.

Because kennis is being used as a general, abstract noun, just like English knowledge in Knowledge is important.

In Afrikaans, you often do not use die or 'n with abstract nouns when talking generally.

• Kennis is belangrik. = Knowledge is important.
• Die kennis is belangrik. = The knowledge is important.
  This sounds more specific.

Because after is, Afrikaans normally uses the plain adjective form.

So:

• Kennis is belangrik. = predicate adjective, so belangrik
• belangrike kennis = adjective before a noun, often with -e

Compare:

• Die boek is interessant.
• 'n interessante boek

This is a very common pattern in Afrikaans.

No. In the present tense, Afrikaans uses is with all persons:

• Ek is = I am
• Jy is = you are
• Hy/Sy is = he/she is
• Ons is = we are
• Hulle is = they are

So Afrikaans is simpler than English here.

A rough English-style guide:

• kennis ≈ KEN-iss
• belangrik ≈ buh-LUNG-rik

A few helpful notes:

• The ng in belangrik sounds like the ng in sing
• The stress is mainly on the second syllable of belangrik: be-LANG-rik

This is only an approximation, but it is good enough to get started.

Yes. In this sentence, kennis is an abstract, uncountable idea, like English knowledge.

So Kennis is belangrik means knowledge in general, not one separate item.

In this sentence, yes. It is very similar to English:

• Kennis = Knowledge
• is = is
• belangrik = important

So both languages use the same basic order here.

However, Afrikaans word order can change in other sentence types, especially when another element comes first. But for this simple statement, the order is straightforward.

You would say:

Kennis is nie belangrik nie.

Afrikaans usually uses a double nie in ordinary negation:

• first nie after the verb or the part being negated
• second nie near the end of the clause

So the pattern is very different from English.

Yes. That means:

Knowledge is very important.

Here, baie means very.

So you can build on the original sentence easily:

• Kennis is belangrik. = Knowledge is important.
• Kennis is baie belangrik. = Knowledge is very important.

It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

In Afrikaans, common nouns are not automatically capitalized the way they are in German.

So:

• Kennis is belangrik.
• But in the middle of a sentence, you would write kennis with a lowercase k.

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• Kennis is belangrik. = knowledge in general is important
• Die kennis is belangrik. = the knowledge is important

So adding die makes the noun more specific.