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Learn Hardcore Afrikaans: Die dosis is klein. - The dose is small.

Hardcore Afrikaans
/Taking a pet to the vet
/Die dosis is klein.

Die dosis is klein.

Die dosis is klein.

The dose is small.

Breakdown of Die dosis is klein.

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Questions & Answers about Die dosis is klein.

Why is die used here?

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, so here it means the.

A few useful things to know about die:

it is used for singular and plural
it does not change for gender
it is one of the most common words in Afrikaans

So die dosis = the dose.

Is dosis singular or plural?

Here, dosis is singular: the dose.

The plural is usually dosisse: the doses = die dosisse.

Why is it is? Does Afrikaans change to be depending on the subject?

In this sentence, is is the present-tense form of to be.

Afrikaans is much simpler than English here: you do not get forms like am / is / are. In normal present-tense statements, Afrikaans just uses is for all subjects.

For example:

Ek is klein. = I am small.
Jy is klein. = You are small.
Die dosis is klein. = The dose is small.

Is the word order the same as in English?

Yes. This sentence follows a very familiar pattern:

Die dosis = the subject
is = the verb
klein = the adjective describing the subject

So it works like English The dose is small:

subject + verb + adjective

Why does klein stay klein after is?

Because it is being used as a predicate adjective: it comes after is and describes the subject.

In Afrikaans, adjectives in this position normally stay in their basic form:

Die dosis is klein.
Die tafel is groot.
Die water is koud.

So there is no extra ending on klein here.

Can klein also go before the noun?

Yes. You can put it before the noun if you want to say the small dose:

die klein dosis

That is different from Die dosis is klein:

die klein dosis = the small dose
Die dosis is klein. = The dose is small.

So one is a noun phrase, and the other is a full sentence.

How is this sentence pronounced?

A simple English-friendly approximation is:

dee DOH-sis is klayn

A few notes:

die sounds like dee, not like the English verb die
dosis has the stress on the first syllable: DOH-sis
is is short, like iss
klein has an ei sound somewhat like klayn

Exact pronunciation varies a bit by speaker, but that approximation is good for a learner.

How would I make this sentence negative?

Afrikaans normally uses a double nie in standard negation:

Die dosis is nie klein nie.

That means The dose is not small.

Pattern:

subject + is + nie + adjective + nie

So:

Die dosis is klein. = The dose is small.
Die dosis is nie klein nie. = The dose is not small.

Does dosis have grammatical gender?

No. Afrikaans does not use grammatical gender the way languages like German do.

So you do not need to learn dosis as masculine, feminine, or neuter. You just use die as the definite article.

That makes sentences like this much easier to build.

Are nouns in Afrikaans capitalized like in German?

No. Afrikaans does not capitalize all nouns.

So dosis and klein are written in lowercase here. The only reason Die is capitalized is that it is the first word of the sentence.

Does klein only mean physical size here?

Not necessarily. Klein can mean small, little, or low depending on context.

With dosis, English often says small dose or low dose, so the exact natural translation depends on the situation. Grammatically, though, klein is simply the adjective describing the noun.

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