Daar is ongeveer drie vlooie.

to be

Breakdown of Daar is ongeveer drie vlooie.

• daar: there
• drie: three
• die vlooi: flea

Questions & Answers about Daar is ongeveer drie vlooie.

Why does the sentence start with daar? Does it mean there as a place?

Here daar does not mainly refer to a location. In Daar is ongeveer drie vlooie, it works like English there in There are about three fleas.

This use is called existential daar: it introduces the existence of something.

• Daar is 'n hond. = There is a dog.
• Daar is twee kinders. = There are two children.

So in this sentence, daar is means there is/there are, not over there is.

Why is it is and not a plural verb like English are?

Afrikaans does not change the verb is for singular and plural in this kind of sentence.

So both of these are correct:

• Daar is 'n vlooi. = There is a flea.
• Daar is drie vlooie. = There are three fleas.

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not say are here. Is is used for both.

What does ongeveer mean, and where does it go in the sentence?