Gee die rugbybal aan!

rugby ball

Breakdown of Gee die rugbybal aan!

• aangee: to pass the ball

Questions & Answers about Gee die rugbybal aan!

What kind of sentence is Gee die rugbybal aan!, and where is the subject?

It is a command sentence, also called an imperative.

In Afrikaans, commands usually leave out the subject. So the understood subject is you, even though jy is not written.

So the structure is basically:

Gee + die rugbybal + aan
Give/Pass + the rugby ball + particle

English does the same thing:

Pass the ball!
not normally You pass the ball!

Why is gee used like that? Shouldn’t the verb change for a command?

No. In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change form the way they do in English.

The verb gee is the normal form, and that same form is also used in commands.

So:

• Ek gee = I give
• Jy gee = you give
• Gee! = give!

That is very normal in Afrikaans. There is no special ending here for the imperative.

What does die mean here?