Language/Afrikaans/Grammar/Common-Errors
In this article, we'll explore some of the most common grammar mistakes made by learners of the Afrikaans language. Understanding these errors will help you improve your language skills and communicate more effectively in Afrikaans.
Limited expression of tense in Afrikaans (Kolbe, 2012)[edit | edit source]
Afrikaans has only three basic tenses: present, past, and future. Conditional, perfect, and pluperfect tenses can be challenging to understand and use correctly.
For example: "He would have been going had it not been raining." A second language learner might struggle with using these tenses correctly.
No verb conjugation based on tense[edit | edit source]
Generally, the auxiliary verbs 'het' and 'ge' precede the main verb to indicate past tense (Donaldson, 1993).
The word 'sal' is added before the verb to indicate future tense. Example: "Ek loop." - I am walking. "Ek het geloop." - I have walked. "Ek sal loop." - I will walk.
Emphasis on action in sentences[edit | edit source]
In Afrikaans, the verb is often duplicated to emphasize or show continuity, rather than using a specific adverb (Botha, 1998).
This can lead to unnecessary duplication in English translations.
Example: "krap" means 'scratch oneself.' "krap krap krap" means 'scratch oneself vigorously.'
Tendency to use double negatives when translating from L1 to L2 (Markey, 1982)[edit | edit source]
Example: "You must not do that." In Afrikaans: "Jy moet dit nie doen nie." A second language learner might initially say: "You must not not do that." (C. Kolbe, personal communication, February 22, 2012)
Finish this lesson and explore these related pages: Negation, Nouns, Conditional Mood & Common Compound Verbs + Conjugations.
Source[edit | edit source]
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Modal verbs (can, must, want and will)
- Future Tense
- Pronouns
- Sentence Structure
- Formal vs Informal Imperatives
- Common Compound Verbs + Conjugations
- Conditional Mood
- The Rule of “Two Knees”
- Adjectives