Sy skryf 'n sin oor beurtkrag.

She writes a sentence about scheduled power cuts.

Breakdown of Sy skryf 'n sin oor beurtkrag.

• sy: she
• 'n: a
• skryf: to write
• oor: about

Questions & Answers about Sy skryf 'n sin oor beurtkrag.

Why does sy mean she here, when I’ve also seen sy used for his?

Afrikaans sy can indeed mean two different things:

• sy = she (subject pronoun)
• sy = his (possessive determiner)

In Sy skryf 'n sin oor beurtkrag, it means she because it is followed by a verb, skryf.

So the structure is:

• Sy skryf = She writes

If it meant his, it would normally come before a noun:

• sy boek = his book

So the grammar tells you which meaning is intended.

Why is skryf the same form for I, you, and she?

Because Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form according to the subject.

So you get:

• Ek skryf = I write
• Jy skryf = you write
• Sy skryf = she writes
• Ons skryf = we write

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not add an -s for he/she/it in the present tense.

That makes verb conjugation much simpler than in English.

What exactly is 'n?