Language/Afrikaans/Grammar/Sentence-Structure

Sentence Structure in the Afrikaans language

Afrikaans follows a basic sentence structure. Before other tenses can be tackled, we need to understand how to construct basic sentences in the present tense.

From now onwards the following letters will all represent different parts of speech:

S- Subject	V1- Verb1	T- Time
O- Object	M- Manner	P- Place
V2- Verb 2	I- Infinitive

Afrikaans will follow that basic sentence structure called STOMPI (pronounce Stormpy) with v1 between subject and time and v2 between place and the infinitive

Let us try and translate the following present tense sentence into afrikaans given the vocabulary.

Today the boy kicks the ball high in the garden to practice

This sentence consists of many parts of speech related to STOMPI.

Today- Vandag (Time)

The boy- Die Seun (Subject)

Kicks- Skop (Verb1)

The ball- Die bal (Object)

High- Hoog (Manner in which the action is done)

In the garden- In die tuin (Place)

To practice- Om te Oefen (To practice)

The infinitive in Afrikaans is defined as "The reason why the action is being done" and unlike English in which we would say "to", we have to use the words "om te" in place of to. So if we place the Afrikaans words in the correct word order we get the following sentence:

Die seun :S	Skop :V1	Vandag :T
Die bal :O	Hoog :M	In die tuin :P	Om te oefen :V2

We very rarely have a second verb in the present tense but we do encounter it often in future and past tense.

There is a small exception in STOMPI which says that we can start with any of the parts of speech but we must remember a golden rule-

Verb1 will always come second regardless of which part of speech you start with.

The rest of the sentence will follow the original STOMPI word order. For instance; If we start with the time the word order would be T V1 S O M P V2 I

Vandag skop die seun die bal hoog in die tuin om te oefen

If we talk about possession of an object we use the verb "het". It means "have". It is imperative that you know this word now in the present tense refers to possession as it might be a confounding factor when we learn about past tense in which "het" has a different implication.

Eg. I have a pen = Ek het 'n pen

I- Ek

Have- Het

A/An- 'n (always lower case n)

Pen- Pen

Try and translate the following sentence then try starting with a different part of speech except a verb. Starting with a verb will turn the phrase into a question which will be covered in a later lesson.

This morning my mother quickly gives me breakfast to eat. ( I know this sentence is quite juvenile but we need to take baby baby steps.)

Vocab

This morning: Vanoggend

My mother: My ma(informal) or My moeder (formal)

Quickly: Vinnig

Gives: Gee

Me: My

Breakfast: Ontbyt

Eat- Eet

Other Lessons

• Modal verbs (can, must, want and will)
• The Rule of “One Knee”
• Common Errors
• Negation
• Questions
• Pronouns
• Definite article
• The Rule of “Two Knees”
• Formal vs Informal Imperatives
• Conditional Mood