Die getuie getuig vandag.

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Breakdown of Die getuie getuig vandag.

• die getuie: witness
• getuig: to testify; bear witness

Questions & Answers about Die getuie getuig vandag.

Why are getuie and getuig so similar? Are they the same word?

They are closely related, but they are different parts of speech:

• getuie = witness (a noun)
• getuig = to testify / testify (a verb)

This kind of noun-verb relationship is common in Afrikaans. So in Die getuie getuig vandag, the first word after Die is the person, and the second is the action that person performs.

What does die mean here? Is it always the?

Yes, here die means the.

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for all nouns, whether singular or plural. Unlike English, it does not change for gender, and unlike Dutch or German, you do not have to learn different forms like de/het or der/die/das.

So:

• die getuie = the witness
• die getuies = the witnesses

Why doesn’t getuig change form for he/she/it like in English?