Breakdown of Die skeidsregter probeer om 'n gevaarlike duikslag te voorkom.
'n
a
om
to
probeer
to try
gevaarlik
dangerous
Questions & Answers about Die skeidsregter probeer om 'n gevaarlike duikslag te voorkom.
Why does the sentence start with Die? Does Afrikaans have grammatical gender like German or Dutch?
Die here means the.
Afrikaans does not use grammatical gender the way Dutch or German do, so die is the definite article for singular nouns like skeidsregter and also for many plural nouns.
So:
- die skeidsregter = the referee
- no separate masculine, feminine, or neuter form is needed
That makes articles in Afrikaans much simpler than in some related languages.
What does skeidsregter mean exactly, and how is it built?
Skeidsregter means referee.
It is a compound noun:
- skeid = separate / decide between
- regter = judge
So the word has the sense of someone who judges between sides.
Compound nouns are very common in Afrikaans, and like in English, the whole word is usually written as one unit.
Why is the verb probeer the same form for he/she/it? Shouldn’t it change like tries in English?