Breakdown of Die kredietmeter is foutief, maar die voorafbetaalmeter wys die elektrisiteitskrediet.
wees
to be
maar
but
wys
to show
die kredietmeter
the credit meter
Questions & Answers about Die kredietmeter is foutief, maar die voorafbetaalmeter wys die elektrisiteitskrediet.
What does die mean here, and why does it appear more than once?
Die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.
It appears before kredietmeter and again before voorafbetaalmeter because each noun phrase normally has its own article:
- die kredietmeter = the credit meter
- die voorafbetaalmeter = the prepaid meter
A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans die does not change for gender, and it is also used for plural nouns.
Why are words like kredietmeter, voorafbetaalmeter, and elektrisiteitskrediet written as one word?
Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns by writing them as a single word.
So:
- krediet + meter → kredietmeter
- vooraf + betaal + meter → voorafbetaalmeter
- elektrisiteit + s + krediet → elektrisiteitskrediet
The basic rule is that the main noun usually comes at the end, and the earlier part describes it. So a kredietmeter is a kind of meter, and elektrisiteitskrediet is a kind of krediet.
Why is foutief used, and what exactly does it mean?