Wat 'n duikslag!

a

Breakdown of Wat 'n duikslag!

• wat: what
• die duikslag: tackle

Questions & Answers about Wat 'n duikslag!

Why does the sentence start with wat if it is not a question?

Here wat is being used in an exclamatory way, not a question-word way.

So Wat 'n duikslag! works like English What a ...! rather than What?

It expresses a reaction, not a request for information.

Why is there no verb in Wat 'n duikslag!?

Because this is an exclamation, not a full statement.

Afrikaans often allows a short noun phrase in exclamations, just like English does:

• What a mess!
• What a surprise!

Those English examples also have no verb. Afrikaans does the same thing with Wat 'n ...!

If you wanted a full sentence, you would add a verb, depending on context.

What does 'n mean here?

'n is the Afrikaans indefinite article, meaning a or an.

So the pattern is:

• wat = what
• 'n = a/an
• duikslag = the noun

Together, the structure is What a ...!

Why is 'n written with an apostrophe?