Understanding Afrikaans Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement means that the subject and the verb in a sentence must match. In Afrikaans, this is important because it helps us understand who is doing the action and when it is happening.
Important Points
- The verb must match the subject in number. This means if the subject is singular (one person or thing), the verb should also be singular. If the subject is plural (more than one person or thing), the verb should be plural.
- In Afrikaans, verbs do not change as much as they do in English. Often, the same verb form is used for both singular and plural subjects.
- When using the present tense, the verb usually stays the same, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural.
- In the past tense, Afrikaans often uses 'het' plus a past participle, and this structure does not change for singular or plural subjects.
- Modal verbs like 'kan', 'wil', and 'moet' also do not change based on the subject.
Examples
- Ek loop na die winkel.
- Ons loop na die winkel.
- Die kind speel buite.
In the examples, you can see that whether we are talking about 'Ek' (I) or 'Ons' (we), the verb 'loop' (walk) stays the same. The same happens with 'Die kind' (The child) and 'speel' (play).
Examples
- Hy het die boek gelees.
- Hulle het die boek gelees.
- Sy kan sing.
Important Points
- Notice how 'het' and the past participle 'gelees' do not change whether the subject is 'Hy' (He) or 'Hulle' (They).
- Modal verbs like 'kan' remain the same regardless of the subject.