Ons hergebruik verpakking om afval te verminder.

we

Breakdown of Ons hergebruik verpakking om afval te verminder.

• om: to
• die afval: waste; discarded material
• die verpakking: the packaging

Questions & Answers about Ons hergebruik verpakking om afval te verminder.

Why is ons used here, and does it only mean we?

In this sentence, ons means we because it is the subject:

• Ons hergebruik verpakking ... = We reuse packaging ...

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans ons can also mean us or our in other contexts, so you have to tell from the sentence structure which meaning it has.

Examples:

• Ons help. = We help.
• Hulle help ons. = They help us.
• Ons huis is groot. = Our house is big.

Here, since ons comes before the verb, it is clearly we.

Is hergebruik really one word, and what does it literally mean?

Yes, hergebruik is normally written as one word. It is made up of:

• her- = re- / again
• gebruik = use

So hergebruik literally means reuse or use again.

This is very common in Afrikaans: prefixes often attach directly to the verb.

Related examples:

• herlees = reread
• herbou = rebuild
• hersien = revise / review