AFRIKAANS BASIC WORD LIST

SESSION 2

 I used this second session in my week to practice any words that were more difficult or that I was struggling to learn.

I Try
You and your son Jy en (pron un) jou seun (pron. see-un)
He Hy
Is (several words, translate to English) Is, am, are
Sleg Bad, Wicked
Was (translate to English) Was, were (pron vas)
‘n A, An (‘n is pronounced as a soft ‘a’)
Sal Will, Shall
And En (pronounced as ‘un’)
Were (translate to Afrikaans) Was
In (translate to Afrikaans) In
Good morning Goeie mo’re (mo’re is said with less emphasis on the o’r
than in Môre meaning Tomorrow)
Goeie middag Good afternoon
Good night Goeie nag
Good (other than goed, goeie) Goei’en
Good evening Goei’en aand (goei’en is pronounced the same as goeie,
aand is pronounced as in the English ‘aren’t’)
Good day Goei’en dag
No Nee (pron. nee-ah)
Father (2 words), mother (2 Vader, Pa pron fa-derr (soft rolled r); Moeder, Ma pron.
words) mud-err (not pron as in English mud, soft rolled r)
Am (translate to Afrikaans) Is
Grandpa, Granny Oupa, Ouma
My (2 English words) Me, My pron ‘may’
Boy, Son. Boys, Sons Seun = Boy, Son. Seuns = Boys, Sons
It is mine Dit is myne (pron may-na)
There were many girls Daar was baie meisies
Good Goed, Goeie, Goei’en (all with a guttural ‘g’)
Are Is
NEW WORDS

I Try
Monkey, Monkeys aap, ape Aap (pron. Arrp), Ape (pron Arpa), ‘e’ is often added to a
word to indicates it’s a plural.
Snake, Snakes slang, slange Slang, slange (pron. slung, slunga)
Name naam Naam (aa in Afrikaans is pron as in English Barn)
Jou you your You / Your (pron Yo) don’t give a clue that Jou means 2
words.
What is your name? wat is jou naam? Wat is jou naam ?
There daar Daar (roll the R)
Ons we us our ourselves We, Us, Our, Ourselves
Love lief Lief (lief pron leaff). Lief has other meanings too.
Friendly, Friend, Friends vriendelike, vriend, vriende Vriendelike, Vriend, Vriende (pron. frint, frinda)
Julle you pl, your You (plural), Your
Jy you You (singular) pron. yay
Today vandag Vandag
Go gaan Gaan, there are other meanings as well
Found gevind Gevind – is used for past tense, use Vind for present
tense. Gevind is used in combination with Het (have).
Only (several words) net, slegs Slegs, Net
Four vier Vier (pron. Fearr, soft rolled r, pronounced differently
from Vir)
Eleven elf Elf
Twelve twaalf Twaalf (pron. twarlf)
I love you too ek is ook lief vir jou Ek is ook lief vir jou (vir pron. fur).
Have you found the snake? het jy die slang gevind? Het jy die slang gevind (slang is pron. slung).
Ook also, as well, too Also, As well, Too pron ooerk
Why was that? hoekom was dat? hoekom was dat? Pron Hoe-kom. In some cases Waarom is
used for Why. Hoekom is used when Why is at the start of the
sentence.
I found a monkey in the garden ek het ‘n aap in die tuin Ek het ‘n aap in die tuin gevind (ui in tuin pron as in
gevind English Play)
Naughty stout Stout (pron. stote) ou is pron as in tow in Afrikaans
How are you today? hoe gaan dit met jou vandag? Hoe gaan dit met jou vandag? Pron fandag
Child, Children kind, kinders Kind pron kint, Kinders
Het have, has had Has, Have, Had
How is your baby? hoe gaan dit met jou baba? Hoe gaan dit met jou baba? (pron ba-ba),
Op (several words) on onto On, Onto
(can also be used for At or To)
The baby is on the bed die baba is op die bed Die baba is op die bed
I am not naughty ek is nie stout nie Ek is nie stout nie. Note ‘Nie’(pron as in knee) = Not.
Nie is always repeated at the end of the sentence.
Babies babas Babas (pron ba-bas)
Dog, Dogs hond, honde Hond (pron hont), pl. Honde pron honda
Small Dog hondjie Hondjie (pron hoinkey). A puppy could be described as a
‘Klein of jong hondjie’ – young small dog.
I am sorry ek is jammer Ek is jammer pron yammer (with softly rolled r)
Sê say saying tell Say, Saying, Tell, (all verbs) pron as in English Say
Said gesê Gesê pron with a guttural g and as in English ‘say’ except
the ‘ay’ is shortened slightly (Said is past tense of Say)
Excuse me verskoon my Verskoon my
Leer learn learning Learn, Learning (leer has other meanings too) pron leerr
soft rolled r
I am learning Afrikaans ek leer Afrikaans Ek leer Afrikaans
Liefling sweetheart, darling Darling, Sweetheart pron. lief-lung
Understand verstaan Verstaan pron furstarn
Sorry, what did you say? jammer, wat het jy gesê Jammer, wat het jy gesê? Gesê is used as this is the
past tense.
Skat darling treasure Treasure, Darling (has other meanings too)
Sorry, I don’t understand what you said jammer, ek nie verstaan wat Jammer, ek nie verstaan wat jy gesê nie (nie is always
jy gesê nie repeated at the end of the sentence).
Can you find Jane in the garden? kan jy Jane in die tuin vind? Kan jy Jane in die tuin vind.
Brother broer Broer pron Brooer, more emphasis on last ‘r’
Sister, Sisters suster, susters Suster, Susters (sustertjie is little sister) pron sis-terr, sis-
terrs with soft r
Cub, Cubs welpie, welpies Welpie, Welpies, eg Leeuwelpie
Know weet, ken Weet, Ken (verbs)
Lekker nice, well, good, sweet n Nice, Good, Well and as a noun Sweet as in ‘Take off
the wrapper and eat the sweet).
Stadig slow, slowly Slow, Slowly (stadig is pron stardg)
Praat talk speak Talk, Speak
Meer more lake More, Lake (soft roll on r so it is heard)
Please can you speak slowly asseblief kan jy stadig praat Asseblief kan jy stadig praat
Saying sê Sê (means Say, Saying, Tell)
Do you understand what I’m saying? kan jy verstaan wat ek sê? kan jy verstaan wat ek sê?
Mean / Means beteken Beteken b’teah-ken (as in what a word means)
English Engels Engels
Sorry, can you please say what ‘tyd’ Jammer, kan jy asseblief sê Jammer, kan jy asseblief sê wat ‘tyd’ beteken in Engels?
means in English? wat tyd beteken in Engels?
I don’t know ek weet nie Ek weet nie
I know a little Afrikaans
Sorry, can you speak English please?
English is my main language
I don’t know that word