Die houtskool is buite.

to be

Breakdown of Die houtskool is buite.

• buite: outside
• die houtskool: the charcoal

Questions & Answers about Die houtskool is buite.

What does die mean here?

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, so it means the.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans does not change the article for gender the way some languages do. So die can mean the for all nouns:

• die man = the man
• die vrou = the woman
• die kind = the child
• die houtskool = the charcoal

It is also used for plural nouns, depending on the sentence.

Why is houtskool one word?

Afrikaans often forms compound nouns by writing them as a single word.

So:

• hout = wood
• skool does not mean school here; the word houtskool is the fixed word for charcoal

This is very common in Afrikaans and also in Dutch and German. English sometimes uses two words where Afrikaans prefers one.

Is is the same as English is?