Die aard van die werk is belangrik.

The nature of the work is important.

Breakdown of Die aard van die werk is belangrik.

• wees: to be
• die werk: the work
• belangrik: important
• van: of

Questions & Answers about Die aard van die werk is belangrik.

Why does die appear twice in Die aard van die werk?

Because the sentence contains two separate nouns that each take the definite article die:

• die aard = the nature
• die werk = the work

So Die aard van die werk literally means The nature of the work.

Afrikaans does not change die for gender or number in the way some other languages do. It is the normal definite article for nouns in contexts like this.

What does aard mean here?

In this sentence, aard means nature, character, or essential quality.

So die aard van die werk refers to the kind of work it is, or the character of that work.

A few natural English equivalents are:

• the nature of the work
• the character of the work
• what the work is like by its nature

In everyday Afrikaans, aard is a fairly common word in formal and neutral language.

What is the function of van in this sentence?