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Questions & Answers about Die tuisspan speel goed.
Why is die used here, and what exactly does it mean?
Die means the.
In Afrikaans, die is the normal definite article for nouns, so die tuisspan = the home team.
A useful thing for English speakers: Afrikaans does not change the definite article for gender the way some other European languages do. You just use die.
Examples:
- die man = the man
- die vrou = the woman
- die span = the team
It is also used with plural nouns:
- die spanne = the teams
Why is tuisspan written as one word?
Because Afrikaans normally writes compound nouns as one word.
So tuis + span becomes tuisspan.
This is very common in Afrikaans:
- huiswerk = homework
- voetbalspan = football team
- skooltas = school bag
The double s in tuisspan happens because tuis ends in s and span begins with s.
What does tuisspan literally mean?