Duik hom!

Tackle him!

Breakdown of Duik hom!

• hom: him
• duik: to tackle in rugby

Questions & Answers about Duik hom!

What kind of sentence is Duik hom!?

It is an imperative sentence, meaning a command.

In Afrikaans, commands often use just the bare verb at the start of the sentence, with the subject left out because it is understood.

So Duik hom! is the kind of structure you would use to tell someone to do something immediately.

The exclamation mark makes it sound urgent, forceful, or excited.

Why is it hom and not hy?

Because hom is the object form, while hy is the subject form.

• hy = he
• hom = him

In Duik hom!, the person referred to is receiving the action, so Afrikaans uses hom, not hy.

Compare:

• Hy hardloop. = He runs.
• Ek sien hom. = I see him.

So here, hom works exactly like English him.

Why does the verb come first?