Die vuurhoutjie is kort.

The match is short.

Breakdown of Die vuurhoutjie is kort.

• wees: to be
• kort: short
• die vuurhoutjie: the match (for lighting)

Questions & Answers about Die vuurhoutjie is kort.

What does die mean here?

Die is the definite article, so it means the.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans does not have different words for the based on gender, and die is also used for plural nouns. So die can mean:

• the match
• the matches

In this sentence, it is singular because vuurhoutjie is singular.

Also, Die is capitalized here only because it is the first word of the sentence.

Is die pronounced like the English word die?

No. In Afrikaans, die is usually pronounced like dee.

So the beginning of the sentence sounds more like:

dee ...

not like the English word die.

What kind of word is vuurhoutjie?

Vuurhoutjie is a noun meaning match or matchstick.

It is also a compound word:

• vuur = fire
• houtjie = little piece of wood / little stick

So historically it is something like little fire-stick, which makes sense for matchstick.