Sy lees oor die geskiedenis.

she

Breakdown of Sy lees oor die geskiedenis.

• lees: to read
• oor: about
• die geskiedenis: the history

Questions & Answers about Sy lees oor die geskiedenis.

What does sy mean here?

Here, sy means she.

A useful thing to know is that sy can also mean her in other contexts, but in this sentence it is the subject, so it means she.

• Sy lees ... = She reads ...

Also, Sy is capitalized here only because it starts the sentence.

Why is the verb lees used with sy? Shouldn’t it change like reads in English?

Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs in the present tense. The verb usually does not change depending on the subject.

So:

• Ek lees = I read
• Jy lees = you read
• Sy lees = she reads
• Ons lees = we read

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not add an extra -s for he/she/it in the present tense.

What does lees mean exactly?