Die porselein is wit.

to be

Breakdown of Die porselein is wit.

• wit: white
• die porselein: porcelain

Questions & Answers about Die porselein is wit.

What does die mean in this sentence?

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

A useful thing for English speakers to know is that Afrikaans does not change the definite article for gender the way German does. You use die for the with singular and plural nouns in ordinary usage.

Examples:

• die tafel = the table
• die boeke = the books
• die porselein = the porcelain

Why is Die capitalized?

It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

Unlike German, Afrikaans does not capitalize all nouns. So porselein and wit stay lowercase unless normal punctuation rules require a capital.

What kind of word is porselein?

Porselein is a noun. It means porcelain or sometimes china, depending on context.

In a sentence like Die porselein is wit, it can refer to:

• porcelain as a material, or
• porcelain items such as dishes or ornaments,

depending on what the speaker means in context.