Die soom is te lank.

to be

Breakdown of Die soom is te lank.

• te: too
• lang: long
• die soom: hem

Questions & Answers about Die soom is te lank.

What does die mean here, and how do I pronounce it?

Here, die is the definite article, so it means the.

It is pronounced roughly like dee, not like the English verb die.

A useful thing to remember: Afrikaans die is used for both singular and plural nouns, so it can mean the whether you are talking about one thing or several things. In this sentence, soom is singular, so die soom means the hem.

Why is is the same as in English?

That is just a nice coincidence between the two languages. In Afrikaans, is is the present-tense form of the verb wees (to be), and it is used with all persons:

• ek is = I am
• jy is = you are
• hy/sy is = he/she is
• ons is = we are
• hulle is = they are

So in Die soom is te lank, is simply means is.

What does te mean in this sentence?