| Grammar Notes: Lesson on the Sentence: Dit het daardie dag gereën so ons is amper huis toe, maar ons het eerder besluit om nog 'n bietjie te stap en toe afgekom op hierdie dubbele reënboog in Camden, Londen. ### Sentence Breakdown 1. Dit (dit) - Dit: This means "it." It is a pronoun. 2. het (het) - het: This is the past tense auxiliary verb meaning "did" or "have." 3. daardie (dahr-die) - daardie: This means "that." It is a demonstrative pronoun. 4. dag (dahg) - dag: This means "day." It is a noun. 5. gereën (geh-rehn) - reën (reh-ehn): The infinitive form meaning "to rain." - gereën: This is the past participle form meaning "rained." 6. so (soh) - so: This means "so." It is a conjunction. 7. ons (ons) - ons: This means "we" or "us." It is a pronoun. 8. is (is) - is: This is the present tense of "to be." 9. amper (ahm-per) - amper: This means "almost." 10. huis toe (hays too) - huis: This means "house" or "home." - toe: This means "to." Together, "huis toe" means "homeward" or "to home." 11. maar (maar) - maar: This means "but." It is a conjunction. 12. eerder (eer-der) - eerder: This means "rather." 13. besluit (beh-slight) - besluit: This means "decided." It is the past tense of the verb besluit (to decide). 14. om (om) - om: This means "to" when used before a verb in the infinitive. 15. nog (nohg) - nog: This means "still" or "more." 16. 'n (uh) - 'n: This is the indefinite article "a" or "an." 17. bietjie (bee-kee) - bietjie: This means "bit" or "little." 18. te (teh) - te: This is the infinitive marker "to" used before verbs. 19. stap (stahp) - stap: This means "walk." It is a verb in the infinitive form. 20. en (en) - en: This means "and." It is a conjunction. 21. toe (too) - toe: This means "then" or "afterwards." 22. afgekom (ahf-geh-kom) - afkom (ahf-kom): The infinitive form meaning "to come upon" or "to find." - afgekom: This is the past participle form meaning "came upon" or "found." 23. op (op) - op: This means "on" or "upon." It is a preposition. 24. hierdie (heer-dee) - hierdie: This means "this." It is a demonstrative pronoun. 25. dubbele (duh-buh-leh) - dubbele: This means "double." It is an adjective. 26. reënboog (rehn-bohg) - reënboog: This means "rainbow." It is a noun. 27. in (in) - in: This means "in." It is a preposition. 28. Camden (Kam-den) - Camden: This is a proper noun referring to a place in London. 29. Londen (Lon-den) - Londen: This is the Afrikaans name for "London," a proper noun. ### Combined Translation The sentence "Dit het daardie dag gereën so ons is amper huis toe, maar ons het eerder besluit om nog 'n bietjie te stap en toe afgekom op hierdie dubbele reënboog in Camden, Londen." translates to "It rained that day so we were almost home, but we rather decided to walk a bit more and then came upon this double rainbow in Camden, London." - Dit het daardie dag gereën: It rained that day - so ons is amper huis toe: so we were almost home - maar ons het eerder besluit: but we rather decided - om nog 'n bietjie te stap: to walk a bit more - en toe afgekom op hierdie dubbele reënboog: and then came upon this double rainbow - in Camden, Londen: in Camden, London ### General Grammar Tip In Afrikaans, the past tense often uses the auxiliary verb het combined with the past participle form of the main verb, which typically starts with ge-. Additionally, word order in Afrikaans sentences generally follows Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) but can be flexible, especially with conjunctions and prepositions affecting the structure. ### Related Words 1. middag (mid-dahg): afternoon - Example: Dit het daardie middag gereën - "It rained that afternoon." 2. besluit (beh-slight): decide - Example: Ons besluit om huis toe te gaan - "We decide to go home." 3. stap (stahp): walk - Example: Ons gaan stap in die park - "We go for a walk in the park." |
