Die watermeter is foutief.

The water meter is faulty.

Breakdown of Die watermeter is foutief.

• wees: to be
• die watermeter: the water meter
• foutief: faulty

Questions & Answers about Die watermeter is foutief.

What does Die mean here?

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, equivalent to the in English.

A few useful points:

• Afrikaans does not have different words like the for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.
• Die can be used with both singular and plural nouns.
• In this sentence, die watermeter means the water meter.

Why is watermeter written as one word?

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns as a single word.

So:

• water = water
• meter = meter
• watermeter = water meter

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often writes such combinations as two words, but Afrikaans usually joins them.

Other examples:

• huisdeur = house door / front door
• sonlig = sunlight
• skooltas = school bag

Is is used the same way as in English?