Niemand kul nie.

not

Breakdown of Niemand kul nie.

• niemand: nobody
• kul: to cheat

Questions & Answers about Niemand kul nie.

Why does the sentence have nie at the end if niemand already means nobody / no one?

Because standard Afrikaans usually uses double negation.

So even if the subject is already negative, like niemand (nobody), the sentence still normally ends with nie:

• Niemand kul nie.

This is one of the most noticeable differences from English.
In English, Nobody cheats already sounds complete.
In Afrikaans, leaving off the final nie would usually sound incomplete or non-standard.

So you can think of it as:

• niemand = no one / nobody
• final nie = required part of the negative frame

What does kul mean exactly?

Kul means to cheat, to deceive, or sometimes to trick someone.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

• cheating in a game or test
• deceiving someone
• not being honest

In this sentence, Niemand kul nie, the natural meaning is something like:

• Nobody cheats
• No one is cheating
• Nobody is deceiving anyone

The exact English translation depends on context, but the basic idea is cheating / deceiving.

Why is there no ending on ? Shouldn't the verb change for like in English?