Is die skeidsregter gereed?

Is the referee ready?

Breakdown of Is die skeidsregter gereed?

• wees: to be
• gereed: ready
• die skeidsregter: referee

Questions & Answers about Is die skeidsregter gereed?

Why does the sentence start with Is?

Because this is a yes/no question in Afrikaans. Like English, Afrikaans often puts the verb first to ask this kind of question.

• Statement: Die skeidsregter is gereed. = The referee is ready.
• Question: Is die skeidsregter gereed? = Is the referee ready?

So the word order changes mainly because it is a question.

What does die mean here?

Here, die means the.

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for all nouns, whether singular or plural in many contexts:

• die skeidsregter = the referee
• die spelers = the players

Unlike many European languages, Afrikaans does not have different words for the based on gender.

Does die have anything to do with the English word die?

No. This is just a false friend.

In this sentence, die is the Afrikaans word for the, and it is pronounced differently from the English verb die.

So in Is die skeidsregter gereed?, die is completely harmless—it just means the.