Gereed is an adjective meaning ready. In this sentence, it comes after is and describes the subject.
So:
This is called a predicative adjective: it comes after a linking verb like is instead of directly before the noun.
Because in this sentence gereed is used after the verb is, and predicative adjectives in Afrikaans usually stay in their basic form.
Compare:
The adjective gereed does not change here.
This is often easier than in languages where adjectives agree with gender or number.
Gereed is pronounced roughly khuh-REET or ghe-REET, depending on how closely you imitate the Afrikaans g sound.
A few tips:
If you are just starting, it is fine to focus first on the stress and rhythm.
The indefinite article in Afrikaans is ’n, which means a or an.
So:
Example:
A useful detail: ’n is written with a lowercase n, even at the beginning of a sentence in normal spelling. The next word gets capitalized:
In a simple yes/no question, Afrikaans usually puts the verb first:
So the statement:
becomes:
That inversion is very similar to English.
Afrikaans normally uses double negation:
Pattern:
This is one of the most important Afrikaans sentence patterns to learn.
Sometimes, yes, but the meaning can shift a little.
So:
If you specifically want ready, gereed is a very safe choice.
Not in a normal main clause.
In a simple statement, the correct order is:
But in a subordinate clause, Afrikaans often puts the verb later:
So:
That difference is very important in Afrikaans word order.
Yes. Die slaai is gereed. is a completely normal, natural sentence.
It is short, but it works perfectly as a full statement. A speaker might say it when:
So it is both grammatically correct and natural in real use.