What is “it” in Afrikaans?
English “it” does three jobs. It stands for a thing already mentioned (“Where is my key? I can’t find it”), it stands for nothing at all (“It is raining”, “It is late”), and it points at what is in front of you (“It is a book”). Afrikaans uses one word for all three: dit, pronounced /dət/. It has the same form as subject and as object, and it never changes: Dit is warm, “It is warm”; Ek het dit nie gesien nie, “I have not seen it”.
Dit is the neuter pronoun of the third person singular. Lesson 8 taught ek, Lesson 9 taught jy, and dit follows them, but it is a different kind of word. Ek and jy name the people in the conversation; dit names no one. It refers to a thing or an idea, or it only fills the place of the subject, because an Afrikaans main clause needs a subject in front of the verb. That is why Afrikaans says Dit reën, “It is raining”, where Spanish can say only Llueve, and why every sentence about weather, time and general states begins with dit: Dit is laat, “It is late”.
You have met dit many times already: Dit is koud (2.3), Dit is lekker om weer tuis te wees (2.13), Dit is ’n boek (4.4), Is dit jou boek? (9.4), Hoe gaan dit met jou? (9.8), Wie het vir jou gesê dat jy dit nie kan doen nie? (9.15), and dis, the everyday contraction of dit is, in Dis ek (Lesson 8) and Dis jy (Lesson 9). This lesson gathers those uses in one place and adds three more: dit in the clause that comes after “it is important that …”, dit in the sentence “It was Thandi who phoned”, and the words daarvan, daarmee and daarvoor, which Afrikaans uses where English says “of it”, “with it” and “for it”.
Three things about dit differ from English “it”. First, dit can also mean “this” or “that” when you point at something: Wat is dit?, “What is that?”. It is never put in front of a noun, however: for “this book” Afrikaans says hierdie boek, not dit boek. Second, after a preposition Afrikaans does not say “preposition + dit” when the thing is not a person. It joins daar to the preposition: not van dit but daarvan, not met dit but daarmee. Third, many speakers also use hy or hom, “he” or “him”, for some concrete things, so the same object may be called hy in one mouth and dit in another. Dit is always correct, and it is the form this course uses.
Afrikaans dit is the same word as Dutch dit, “this”, but it does the work of both Dutch dit and Dutch het, “it”. Take care not to take Afrikaans het for “it”: it is the verb “have” (Ek het dit gesien, “I have seen it”), and the two words often stand in the same sentence.
FAQ: How do you say “it” in Afrikaans?
Q: What is “it” in Afrikaans? A: Dit, pronounced /dət/: Dit is warm, “It is warm”.
Q: How do I say “It is raining”? A: Dit reën. The word dit must be there; Afrikaans does not leave it out.
Q: How do I say “What time is it?” A: Hoe laat is dit? The answer begins Dit is …, for example Dit is kwart oor drie, “It is a quarter past three”.
Q: Is dis the same as dit is? A: Yes. Dis is the contraction of dit is, written as one word without an apostrophe: dis warm.
Q: How do I say “with it”, “of it” and “for it”? A: Daarmee, daarvan and daarvoor: Wat dink jy daarvan?, “What do you think of it?”.
Q: How do I say “It was Thandi who phoned”? A: Dit was Thandi wat gebel het.
Q: How do I say “this book”? A: Hierdie boek. Dit is not used in front of a noun.
Key Takeaways:
- Dit /dət/ is “it”, and also “this” or “that” when you point: Dit is my boek. It is the same as subject and as object, and never changes - Dit is the necessary subject for weather, time and general statements: Dit reën, Dit is laat, Hoe laat is dit? - Dit does not follow a preposition when it means a thing: Afrikaans says daarvan, daarmee, daarvoor, not van dit, met dit, vir dit - Dit opens “It is difficult to …”, “It is important that …” and “It was Thandi who …”, with the real subject coming later - Dit stands before nie in a negative sentence: Ek het dit nie gesien nie
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dit /dət/ — the vowel is the weak, central sound of English “the” before a consonant or the a of “about”, not the i of English “sit”. The d is as in English, the final t is clear but not puffed with breath.
dis /dəs/ — the same vowel; dis is one syllable.
daarvan /dɑːrˈfan/, daarmee /dɑːrˈmɪə/, daarvoor /dɑːrˈfʊər/ — each has two syllables and the stress falls on the second. The first part daar /dɑːr/ has the long a of waar /vɑːr/ and gaan /χɑːn/. Van is /fan/ with v = /f/, as in Lesson 9.
reën /rɪən/ — the two dots on the second e show that it is a separate syllable; the word is not read as ree + n. The sound ee is /ɪə/, as in eet /ɪət/.
laat /lɑːt/ — the long aa /ɑː/, as in waar and gaan.
moeilik /ˈmujlək/ — the oe is /u/, followed by a short /j/ glide, and the stress is on the first syllable; the ending -lik is /lək/.
belangrik /bəˈlaŋrək/ — the stress is on -lang- because the first syllable be- is an unstressed prefix.
nêrens /ˈnɛːrəns/ — the circumflex ê is the long /ɛː/, as in hê and gesê.
Sounds that recur in this lesson:
d /d/ and t /t/ — dit /dət/, dag /daχ/, doen /dun/; te /tə/, trui /trœɪ/, totsiens /tɔtˈsins/. A final d is said /t/: aand /ɑːnt/, hond /ɦɔnt/, vind /fənt/.
g /χ/ and h /ɦ/ — gaan /χɑːn/, goed /χut/, gister /ˈχəstər/, gesien /χəˈsin/; het /ɦɛt/, hoe /ɦu/, hier /ɦir/, hond /ɦɔnt/.
w /v/ and v /f/ — waar /vɑːr/, was /vas/, wat /vat/, want /vant/; van /fan/, vergeet /fərˈχɪət/, verloor /fərˈlʊər/, vyf /fəɪf/.
ui /œɪ/ — gesluit /χəˈslœɪt/, trui /trœɪ/.
oo /ʊə/ and ee /ɪə/ — oor /ʊər/, oopmaak /ˈʊəpmɑːk/, groot /χrʊət/; leer /lɪər/, gee /χɪə/, geel /χɪəl/, neem /nɪəm/, idee /iˈdɪə/.
Stress falls on the first syllable unless the word begins with an unstressed prefix such as ge-, ver- or be-: ˈreën, ˈmoeilik, but geˈbel, verˈgeet, beˈlangrik. The compounds with daar- are stressed on the part after daar.
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Duplex Method: line a gives each Afrikaans word with its meaning; line b gives the same words with IPA and grammatical glosses.
10.1a Dit it is is warm warm
10.1b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL is /əs/ be.PRES warm /varm/ warm
10.2a Dit it reën rains
10.2b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL reën /rɪən/ rain.PRES
10.3a Wat what is is dit it
10.3b Wat /vat/ what.INT is /əs/ be.PRES dit /dət/ it.3SG.N
10.4a Is is dit it waar true
10.4b Is /əs/ be.PRES dit /dət/ it.3SG.N waar /vɑːr/ true
10.5a Dit it is is my my boek book
10.5b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N is /əs/ be.PRES my /məɪ/ my.1SG.POSS boek /buk/ book.SG
10.6a Hoe how laat late is is dit it
10.6b Hoe /ɦu/ how.INT laat /lɑːt/ late is /əs/ be.PRES dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL
10.7a Ek I het have dit it nie not gesien seen nie not
10.7b Ek /ɛk/ I.1SG het /ɦɛt/ have.AUX.PERF dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ nie /ni/ not.NEG1 gesien /χəˈsin/ see.PTCP nie /ni/ not.NEG2
10.8a Dit it is is ’n a mooi beautiful dag day vandag today
10.8b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL is /əs/ be.PRES ’n /ə/ a.INDEF mooi /moːi/ beautiful dag /daχ/ day.SG vandag /fanˈdaχ/ today
10.9a Dit it gaan goes oor about ’n a seun boy en and sy his hond dog
10.9b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N gaan /χɑːn/ go.PRES oor /ʊər/ about.PREP ’n /ə/ a.INDEF seun /søən/ boy.SG en /ɛn/ and.CONJ sy /səɪ/ his.3SG.M.POSS hond /ɦɔnt/ dog.SG
10.10a Ek I sal shall dit it môre tomorrow vir to jou you gee give
10.10b Ek /ɛk/ I.1SG sal /sal/ shall.AUX.FUT dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ môre /ˈmɔːrə/ tomorrow vir /fər/ to.PREP jou /jœʊ/ you.2SG.OBJ gee /χɪə/ give.INF
10.11a Dit it is is moeilik difficult om to Afrikaans Afrikaans te to leer learn
10.11b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL is /əs/ be.PRES moeilik /ˈmujlək/ difficult om /ɔm/ COMP Afrikaans /afriˈkɑːns/ Afrikaans te /tə/ to.INF leer /lɪər/ learn.INF
10.12a Dit it was was Thandi Thandi wat who gister yesterday gebel phoned het have
10.12b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.CLEFT was /vas/ be.PAST Thandi /ˈtɑːndi/ Thandi wat /vat/ who.REL gister /ˈχəstər/ yesterday gebel /χəˈbɛl/ phone.PTCP het /ɦɛt/ have.AUX.PERF
10.13a Wat what dink think jy you daarvan of-it
10.13b Wat /vat/ what.INT dink /dəŋk/ think.PRES jy /jəɪ/ you.2SG daarvan /dɑːrˈfan/ of-it.PRON.ADV
10.14a Die the deur door is is gesluit closed en and ek I kan can dit it nie not oopmaak open nie not
10.14b Die /di/ the.DEF deur /døːr/ door.SG is /əs/ be.PRES gesluit /χəˈslœɪt/ close.PTCP en /ɛn/ and.CONJ ek /ɛk/ I.1SG kan /kan/ can.AUX.MOD dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ nie /ni/ not.NEG1 oopmaak /ˈʊəpmɑːk/ open.INF nie /ni/ not.NEG2
10.15a Dit it is is belangrik important dat that jy you dit it nie not vergeet forget nie not
10.15b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL is /əs/ be.PRES belangrik /bəˈlaŋrək/ important dat /dat/ that.SUBORD jy /jəɪ/ you.2SG dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ nie /ni/ not.NEG1 vergeet /fərˈχɪət/ forget.PRES nie /ni/ not.NEG2
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10.1 Dit is warm. → “It’s warm.”
10.2 Dit reën. → “It’s raining.”
10.3 Wat is dit? → “What is that?”
10.4 Is dit waar? → “Is it true?”
10.5 Dit is my boek. → “It’s my book.”
10.6 Hoe laat is dit? → “What time is it?”
10.7 Ek het dit nie gesien nie. → “I haven’t seen it.”
10.8 Dit is ’n mooi dag vandag. → “It’s a beautiful day today.”
10.9 Dit gaan oor ’n seun en sy hond. → “It’s about a boy and his dog.”
10.10 Ek sal dit môre vir jou gee. → “I’ll give it to you tomorrow.”
10.11 Dit is moeilik om Afrikaans te leer. → “It’s difficult to learn Afrikaans.”
10.12 Dit was Thandi wat gister gebel het. → “It was Thandi who phoned yesterday.”
10.13 Wat dink jy daarvan? → “What do you think of it?”
10.14 Die deur is gesluit en ek kan dit nie oopmaak nie. → “The door is closed and I can’t open it.”
10.15 Dit is belangrik dat jy dit nie vergeet nie. → “It’s important that you don’t forget it.”
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10.1 Dit is warm.
10.2 Dit reën.
10.3 Wat is dit?
10.4 Is dit waar?
10.5 Dit is my boek.
10.6 Hoe laat is dit?
10.7 Ek het dit nie gesien nie.
10.8 Dit is ’n mooi dag vandag.
10.9 Dit gaan oor ’n seun en sy hond.
10.10 Ek sal dit môre vir jou gee.
10.11 Dit is moeilik om Afrikaans te leer.
10.12 Dit was Thandi wat gister gebel het.
10.13 Wat dink jy daarvan?
10.14 Die deur is gesluit en ek kan dit nie oopmaak nie.
10.15 Dit is belangrik dat jy dit nie vergeet nie.
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These are the grammar rules for “it” (dit) in Afrikaans:
1. One form, three jobs
Dit is the only form of the pronoun “it”. It is the subject (Dit is warm, 10.1), the object (Ek het dit nie gesien nie, 10.7) and the word you point with (Wat is dit?, 10.3). The possessive “its” is a different word: sy, the same sy that means “his” in sy hond (10.9). The pronoun dit itself never has an ending and never changes for case.
The third person singular has these forms: hy, hom (“he”, “him”), sy, haar (“she”, “her”) and dit (“it”). Dit has one form for subject and object, as jy does not (jy, jou).
2. Dit as a dummy subject
When English says “It is raining”, “It is late”, “It is a beautiful day”, the word “it” stands for nothing; it only fills the place of the subject. Afrikaans does the same, and the word is just as necessary: Dit reën (10.2), Dit is warm (10.1), Dit is ’n mooi dag vandag (10.8), Hoe laat is dit? (10.6). Do not leave it out: ✗ Is warm. Another example is the question Hoe gaan dit met jou? (9.8), where dit is also a dummy; Dit gaan goed, dankie is the answer.
For telling the time, the question is Hoe laat is dit?, and the answer begins Dit is …: Dit is kwart oor drie, “It is a quarter past three”.
3. Dit for “this” and “that”
When you point at something, English says “it”, “this” or “that”; Afrikaans says dit: Wat is dit? (10.3), Dit is my boek (10.5), Dit is ’n boek (4.4). Dit does not change when the thing named is plural: Dit is my vriende, “These are my friends”. But dit cannot stand in front of a noun. For “this book” and “that book” Afrikaans has the words hierdie and daardie: hierdie boek, daardie boek. Not ✗ dit boek.
Do not mix up “it is” with “there is”. Dit is points at something or describes it; daar is says that something exists or is present (Lesson 2): Daar is ’n boek op die tafel, “There is a book on the table”. Not ✗ Dit is ’n boek op die tafel.
4. Dit for a thing already mentioned
Dit takes the place of a singular thing or an idea that has been named: Ek het dit nie gesien nie (10.7), Ek sal dit môre vir jou gee (10.10), Ek kan dit nie oopmaak nie (10.14), Wie het vir jou gesê dat jy dit nie kan doen nie? (9.15). In all of these dit is the object.
A short object pronoun stands early in the clause. It comes before nie and before words for time and place, and before vir + person: dit nie gesien (10.7), dit môre vir jou gee (10.10), dit nie oopmaak (10.14). Compare Ek wys dit vir julle op die kaart (9.29).
5. Dit, hy and hom
Dit is the safe word for a thing. In speech, however, Afrikaans also uses hy and hom, “he” and “him”, for some concrete things, and the choice for a given noun can vary between speakers. A linguistic article on the question (“The Puzzle of Afrikaans Pronominal Gender”, Journal of Germanic Linguistics) describes the competition between hy/hom and dit for objects, and notes that dit is preferred for abstract things and for masses. This course writes dit for things.
6. Preposition + dit: daarvan, daarmee, daarvoor
When the thing is not a person, Afrikaans joins daar to the preposition, so that “of it”, “with it”, “for it”, “on it”, “in it” become one word: daarvan (10.13), daarmee, daarvoor (10.30), daarop, daarin. “Preposition + dit” for a thing is not the Afrikaans way: not ✗ van dit, ✗ met dit. The compounds stress the second part: daarˈvan.
Wat dink jy daarvan? (10.13), “What do you think of it?”. Dankie daarvoor (10.30), “Thank you for that”. With persons the ordinary pronouns are used: met hom, vir haar, by hulle. Note that this is not the same as vir in Ek sal dit môre vir jou gee (10.10): there vir introduces a person, jou, and dit is the thing that is given.
7. “It is … to / that …”
Dit often opens a sentence whose real subject is a clause that comes at the end. English does the same: “It is difficult to learn Afrikaans”. In Afrikaans the clause is either om … te + infinitive (Dit is moeilik om Afrikaans te leer, 10.11; compare 2.13) or dat + a clause with its verbs at the end (Dit is belangrik dat jy dit nie vergeet nie, 10.15). The clause can be put first, but the sentence with dit in front, as in these two examples, is the usual one.
8. “It was Thandi who …”
To put the weight on one word, Afrikaans uses dit + a form of wees + the word + wat: Dit was Thandi wat gister gebel het (10.12), “It was Thandi who phoned yesterday”. Wat is the relative word “who, which”. The verbs of the wat clause go to the end: wat gister gebel het. In the same way Dis ek and Dis jy (Lessons 8 and 9) are “It is me” and “It is you”, and on the telephone or in a message Dit is Thandi (10.16) is “This is Thandi”.
9. Dit gaan oor …, Dit gaan goed
The verb gaan, “go”, with dit has two ordinary meanings. Dit gaan oor … is “It is about …”, for a book, a film, a talk: Dit gaan oor ’n seun en sy hond (10.9). Dit gaan goed means “It is going well”, and Hoe gaan dit? is “How are you?”, “How is it going?” (9.8, 10.17).
10. Word order with dit
The verb is second in a main clause. When dit opens the sentence, the verb follows it: Dit is warm (10.1), Dit reën (10.2). When something else opens it, dit moves to the place after the verb: Gister was dit koud (2.16), Môre sal dit koud en nat wees (2.19), In die Karoo is dit droog (2.23). Not ✗ Gister dit was koud.
In a yes-or-no question the verb comes first: Is dit waar? (10.4). With a question word, the verb is second: Wat is dit? (10.3), Hoe laat is dit? (10.6), Wat dink jy daarvan? (10.13).
In a clause that begins with dat, of, as or an indirect question word, the verbs go to the end, and dit stands near the front: dat jy dit nie vergeet nie (10.15); of hulle dit het (10.23); hoe dit gegaan het (10.30). The conjunction want is different: it leaves the order of a main clause, with the verb second (want dit is net vyf minute, 10.26; want dit reën nog, 10.27).
11. Dit and the negative
The negative is nie after the verb, and a second nie at the end of the clause when it goes on. Dit comes before the first nie: Ek het dit nie gesien nie (10.7), Ek kan dit nie oopmaak nie (10.14), dat jy dit nie vergeet nie (10.15). Not ✗ Ek het nie dit gesien nie.
When dit is the subject, the negative follows the verb in the usual way: Dit is nie waar nie, “It is not true”. A question can also be negative: Is dit nie dalk by die restaurant nie? (10.22), “Isn’t it perhaps at the restaurant?”.
12. Dit is and dis
Dis is the contraction of dit is, written as one word with no apostrophe. It is used in speech, messages and informal writing: Dis warm. Dis net vyf minute (9.29). Formal writing usually keeps dit is in full.
Common mistakes for English speakers:
Mistake: Leaving out the dummy subject. ✗ Is warm. → ✓ Dit is warm.
Mistake: Leaving out dit with the weather. ✗ Reën. → ✓ Dit reën.
Mistake: Dit in front of a noun. ✗ Dit boek is nuut. → ✓ Hierdie boek is nuut.
Mistake: Dit is for “there is”. ✗ Dit is ’n boek op die tafel. → ✓ Daar is ’n boek op die tafel.
Mistake: Dit after nie. ✗ Ek het nie dit gesien nie. → ✓ Ek het dit nie gesien nie.
Mistake: Preposition + dit. ✗ Wat dink jy van dit? → ✓ Wat dink jy daarvan?
Mistake: Dat for wat in the sentence “It was Thandi who …”. ✗ Dit was Thandi dat gister gebel het. → ✓ Dit was Thandi wat gister gebel het.
Mistake: Taking het for “it”, as in Dutch. ✗ Het is warm. → ✓ Dit is warm (het is “have”, dit is “it”).
Mistake: Saying the vowel like English “sit”. ✗ /dɪt/ → ✓ /dət/.
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Frequency
Dit is the tenth word in the course’s list, and it is among the most frequent words in written and spoken Afrikaans. Almost every page contains it, in the weather, in questions about the time, and in every sentence that begins “It is …”. Together with is, die and ’n it forms the frame of the simplest Afrikaans sentences.
Dit and dis
Dis is the form of speech, messages and notes. A newspaper or an official text more often writes dit is in full. Both are standard. The contraction has no apostrophe: dis, not ✗ di’s.
Dit and the weather
A sentence about the weather always begins with dit: Dit reën, Dit is warm, Dit is koud, Dit sneeu in die berge. The word cannot be left out, and no other word takes its place.
Hoe gaan dit?
Hoe gaan dit? is a usual greeting, and it contains the dummy dit. You met the longer question in Lesson 9, Hoe gaan dit met jou?; the reply is Goed, dankie, or Dit gaan goed, as in 10.18.
Dit maak nie saak nie
An idiom with dit is Dit maak nie saak nie, “It doesn’t matter”. Saak means “matter, affair”, and maak is “makes”. Another is Dit is nie my skuld nie, “It isn’t my fault”.
Afrikaans and Dutch
Dutch has dit, “this”, as a pointing word, and a separate het, “it”. Afrikaans has only dit for both jobs; its het is the verb “have”. The Dutch phrase Het regent, “It is raining”, becomes Dit reën in Afrikaans. German uses es, as in Es regnet; English “it” is the same kind of word.
Hy and hom for things
Some speakers say hy and hom, “he” and “him”, of a concrete thing. Scholars describe this as a competition between hy/hom and dit, and the English Wikipedia article on Afrikaans grammar gives the advertising slogan of a hot sauce, Hy brand mooi rooi, as an example of hy used emphatically of an object. For a learner dit is the right choice.
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Source: Genesis 1:29, 1:30 and 1:31, in Die Bybel, the Afrikaans translation of 1933 with the revision of 1953 (Bybelgenootskap van Suid-Afrika). The text follows the 1933/1953 translation (AFR53) on bible.com and agrees word for word with the 1933/1953 text on bibliaonline.com.br. From verse 29 the last sentence is given, from verse 30 the last sentence, and verse 31 in full; the dash in verse 31 is printed in both sources.
Context: Lesson 2 read the beginning of this chapter, Genesis 1:2–4. Here the chapter ends. God has made man, and He has given the plants and the green herbs as food. In these lines dit refers back to something already said (verses 29 and 30), sums up all that God has made (verse 31), and is the dummy subject of time (the last sentence of verse 31).
F-A: Interlinear Construed Text
F.1a Dit it sal shall julle your-all voedsel food wees be
F.1b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N sal /sal/ shall.AUX.FUT julle /ˈjœlə/ your.2PL.POSS voedsel /ˈfutsəl/ food.SG wees /vɪəs/ be.INF
F.2a En and dit it was was so so
F.2b En /ɛn/ and.CONJ dit /dət/ it.3SG.N was /vas/ be.PAST so /sʊə/ so
F.3a Toe then sien sees God God alles everything wat that Hy He gemaak made het have en and dit it was was baie very goed good
F.3b Toe /tu/ then.ADV sien /sin/ see.PRES.NARR God /χɔt/ God.SG alles /ˈaləs/ everything wat /vat/ that.REL Hy /ɦəɪ/ He.3SG.M gemaak /χəˈmɑːk/ make.PTCP het /ɦɛt/ have.AUX.PERF en /ɛn/ and.CONJ dit /dət/ it.3SG.N was /vas/ be.PAST baie /ˈbajə/ very goed /χut/ good
F.4a En and dit it was was aand evening en and dit it was was môre morning die the sesde sixth dag day
F.4b En /ɛn/ and.CONJ dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL was /vas/ be.PAST aand /ɑːnt/ evening.SG en /ɛn/ and.CONJ dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL was /vas/ be.PAST môre /ˈmɔːrə/ morning.SG die /di/ the.DEF sesde /ˈsɛsdə/ sixth.ORD dag /daχ/ day.SG
F-B: Authentic Text with Idiomatic English Translation
Dit sal julle voedsel wees. En dit was so. Toe sien God alles wat Hy gemaak het, en — dit was baie goed. En dit was aand en dit was môre, die sesde dag.
→ “It shall be your food. And it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and — it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” (Latinum Institute.)
F-C: Authentic Text Only
Dit sal julle voedsel wees. En dit was so. Toe sien God alles wat Hy gemaak het, en — dit was baie goed. En dit was aand en dit was môre, die sesde dag.
F-D: Grammar and Literary Commentary
Dit sal julle voedsel wees (F.1) — dit points back to the plants that God has just given. Dit sal … wees is a future sentence: sal, “shall”, stands second, and the infinitive wees goes to the end. Julle is read here as “your” in front of voedsel (Lesson 9, Section D, 6); the sense is the same as “it shall be food for you”.
En dit was so (F.2) — dit is the subject, was is the verb, and so, “so”, completes it. Dit stands for everything that has just been said.
Toe sien God alles … (F.3) — the older style tells a story with a present form of the verb after toe, as in Lesson 9, Section F. In modern Afrikaans one would say Toe het God alles gesien … . The relative clause wat Hy gemaak het has its verbs at the end. Hy, written with a capital, is God.
en — dit was baie goed (F.3) — dit sums up alles wat Hy gemaak het, “everything that He had made”, and says of the whole what the chapter had said of its parts. The dash in the printed text marks a pause after en. Baie is “very” before an adjective, as in baie vriendelik (9.22).
En dit was aand en dit was môre, die sesde dag (F.4) — here dit is the dummy subject, as in Dit is laat. The two clauses with dit was are joined by en. The words die sesde dag are added as a phrase and are not part of either clause. As in Dit is ’n mooi dag vandag (10.8), dit does not stand for any named thing; it only fills the place before the verb.
The style is the plain, direct Afrikaans of the 1933 translation: short clauses joined by en, and a pronoun that carries the sense from one sentence to the next.
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A message thread written for this lesson. Thandi is still in Stellenbosch, where Lesson 9 left her at the guesthouse. Her friend Sipho is at home and writes to her. The two exchange messages about the weather, a lost jersey and a short walk to fetch it. The speakers are named in Part C.
Part A: Interlinear Construed Text
10.16a Goeiemôre good-morning Sipho Sipho dit it is is Thandi Thandi
10.16b Goeiemôre /χujəˈmɔːrə/ good-morning Sipho /ˈsipɔ/ Sipho dit /dət/ it.3SG.N is /əs/ be.PRES Thandi /ˈtɑːndi/ Thandi
10.17a Goeiemôre good-morning Thandi Thandi Hoe how gaan goes dit it in in Stellenbosch Stellenbosch
10.17b Goeiemôre /χujəˈmɔːrə/ good-morning Thandi /ˈtɑːndi/ Thandi Hoe /ɦu/ how.INT gaan /χɑːn/ go.PRES dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL in /ən/ in.PREP Stellenbosch /ˈstɛlənbɔs/ Stellenbosch
10.18a Dit it gaan goes goed well dankie thanks maar but dit it reën rains die the hele whole oggend morning
10.18b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL gaan /χɑːn/ go.PRES goed /χut/ well dankie /ˈdaŋki/ thanks maar /mɑːr/ but.CONJ dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL reën /rɪən/ rain.PRES die /di/ the.DEF hele /ˈɦɪələ/ whole.ATTR oggend /ˈɔχənt/ morning.SG
10.19a Dit it is is jammer a-pity Wat what het have julle you-all gisteraand last-night gedoen done
10.19b Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL is /əs/ be.PRES jammer /ˈjamər/ a-pity Wat /vat/ what.INT het /ɦɛt/ have.AUX.PERF julle /ˈjœlə/ you.2PL gisteraand /ˈχəstərɑːnt/ last-night gedoen /χəˈdun/ do.PTCP
10.20a Ons we het have by at die the restaurant restaurant geëet eaten Dit it was was baie very lekker delicious
10.20b Ons /ɔns/ we.1PL het /ɦɛt/ have.AUX.PERF by /bəɪ/ at.PREP die /di/ the.DEF restaurant /rɛstɔˈrant/ restaurant.SG geëet /χəˈɪət/ eat.PTCP Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N was /vas/ be.PAST baie /ˈbajə/ very lekker /ˈlɛkər/ delicious
10.21a Maar but ek I het have my my trui jersey verloor lost en and ek I kan can dit it nêrens nowhere vind find nie not
10.21b Maar /mɑːr/ but.CONJ ek /ɛk/ I.1SG het /ɦɛt/ have.AUX.PERF my /məɪ/ my.1SG.POSS trui /trœɪ/ jersey.SG verloor /fərˈlʊər/ lose.PTCP en /ɛn/ and.CONJ ek /ɛk/ I.1SG kan /kan/ can.AUX.MOD dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ nêrens /ˈnɛːrəns/ nowhere vind /fənt/ find.INF nie /ni/ not.NEG
10.22a Is is dit it nie not dalk perhaps by at die the restaurant restaurant nie not Bel phone hulle them maar just
10.22b Is /əs/ be.PRES dit /dət/ it.3SG.N nie /ni/ not.NEG1 dalk /dalk/ perhaps by /bəɪ/ at.PREP die /di/ the.DEF restaurant /rɛstɔˈrant/ restaurant.SG nie /ni/ not.NEG2 Bel /bɛl/ phone.IMP hulle /ˈɦœlə/ they.3PL.OBJ maar /mɑːr/ just.PTCL
10.23a Goeie good idee idea Ek I bel phone nou now en and vra ask of whether hulle they dit it het have
10.23b Goeie /ˈχujə/ good.ATTR idee /iˈdɪə/ idea.SG Ek /ɛk/ I.1SG bel /bɛl/ phone.PRES nou /nœʊ/ now en /ɛn/ and.CONJ vra /frɑː/ ask.PRES of /ɔf/ whether.SUBORD hulle /ˈɦœlə/ they.3PL dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ het /ɦɛt/ have.PRES
10.24a Hulle they het have dit it gevind found Dit it was was agter behind ’n a stoel chair
10.24b Hulle /ˈɦœlə/ they.3PL het /ɦɛt/ have.AUX.PERF dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ gevind /χəˈfənt/ find.PTCP Dit /dət/ it.3SG.N was /vas/ be.PAST agter /ˈaχtər/ behind.PREP ’n /ə/ a.INDEF stoel /stul/ chair.SG
10.25a Wonderlik wonderful Wanneer when gaan go jy you dit it haal fetch
10.25b Wonderlik /ˈvɔndərlək/ wonderful Wanneer /vaˈnɪər/ when.INT gaan /χɑːn/ go.AUX.FUT jy /jəɪ/ you.2SG dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ haal /ɦɑːl/ fetch.INF
10.26a Ek I gaan go dit it nou-nou in-a-little-while haal fetch want because dit it is is net only vyf five minute minutes van from hier here
10.26b Ek /ɛk/ I.1SG gaan /χɑːn/ go.AUX.FUT dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ nou-nou /ˈnœʊnœʊ/ in-a-little-while.REDUP haal /ɦɑːl/ fetch.INF want /vant/ because.CONJ dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL is /əs/ be.PRES net /nɛt/ only vyf /fəɪf/ five.NUM minute /miˈnytə/ minute.PL van /fan/ from.PREP hier /ɦir/ here
10.27a Neem take ’n an sambreel umbrella saam along want because dit it reën rains nog still
10.27b Neem /nɪəm/ take.IMP ’n /ə/ a.INDEF sambreel /samˈbrɪəl/ umbrella.SG saam /sɑːm/ along want /vant/ because.CONJ dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL reën /rɪən/ rain.PRES nog /nɔχ/ still
10.28a Dankie thanks daarvoor for-it Ek I het have ’n an sambreel umbrella dit it is is groot big en and geel yellow
10.28b Dankie /ˈdaŋki/ thanks daarvoor /dɑːrˈfʊər/ for-it.PRON.ADV Ek /ɛk/ I.1SG het /ɦɛt/ have.PRES ’n /ə/ a.INDEF sambreel /samˈbrɪəl/ umbrella.SG dit /dət/ it.3SG.N is /əs/ be.PRES groot /χrʊət/ big en /ɛn/ and.CONJ geel /χɪəl/ yellow
10.29a Dan then sal shall almal everyone dit it sien see
10.29b Dan /dan/ then.ADV sal /sal/ shall.AUX.FUT almal /ˈalmal/ everyone dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.OBJ sien /sin/ see.INF
10.30a Totsiens goodbye Sipho Sipho Ek I sê say later later hoe how dit it gegaan gone het have
10.30b Totsiens /tɔtˈsins/ goodbye Sipho /ˈsipɔ/ Sipho Ek /ɛk/ I.1SG sê /sɛː/ say.PRES later /ˈlɑːtər/ later hoe /ɦu/ how.SUBORD dit /dət/ it.3SG.N.EXPL gegaan /χəˈχɑːn/ go.PTCP het /ɦɛt/ have.AUX.PERF
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Part B: Natural Text with Idiomatic Translation
10.16 Goeiemôre, Sipho, dit is Thandi. → “Good morning, Sipho, it’s Thandi.”
10.17 Goeiemôre, Thandi! Hoe gaan dit in Stellenbosch? → “Good morning, Thandi! How are things in Stellenbosch?”
10.18 Dit gaan goed, dankie, maar dit reën die hele oggend. → “Things are going well, thanks, but it’s been raining all morning.”
10.19 Dit is jammer. Wat het julle gisteraand gedoen? → “That’s a pity. What did you do last night?”
10.20 Ons het by die restaurant geëet. Dit was baie lekker. → “We ate at the restaurant. It was very good.”
10.21 Maar ek het my trui verloor en ek kan dit nêrens vind nie. → “But I’ve lost my jersey and I can’t find it anywhere.”
10.22 Is dit nie dalk by die restaurant nie? Bel hulle maar. → “Isn’t it perhaps at the restaurant? Just phone them.”
10.23 Goeie idee! Ek bel nou en vra of hulle dit het. → “Good idea! I’ll phone now and ask whether they have it.”
10.24 Hulle het dit gevind! Dit was agter ’n stoel. → “They’ve found it! It was behind a chair.”
10.25 Wonderlik! Wanneer gaan jy dit haal? → “Wonderful! When are you going to fetch it?”
10.26 Ek gaan dit nou-nou haal, want dit is net vyf minute van hier. → “I’m going to fetch it in a little while, because it’s only five minutes from here.”
10.27 Neem ’n sambreel saam, want dit reën nog. → “Take an umbrella with you, because it’s still raining.”
10.28 Dankie daarvoor. Ek het ’n sambreel; dit is groot en geel. → “Thanks for that. I’ve got an umbrella; it’s big and yellow.”
10.29 Dan sal almal dit sien! → “Then everyone will see it!”
10.30 Totsiens, Sipho. Ek sê later hoe dit gegaan het. → “Goodbye, Sipho. I’ll tell you later how it went.”
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Part C: Text in Afrikaans Only
Dit reën
Thandi: Goeiemôre, Sipho, dit is Thandi.
Sipho: Goeiemôre, Thandi! Hoe gaan dit in Stellenbosch?
Thandi: Dit gaan goed, dankie, maar dit reën die hele oggend.
Sipho: Dit is jammer. Wat het julle gisteraand gedoen?
Thandi: Ons het by die restaurant geëet. Dit was baie lekker.
Thandi: Maar ek het my trui verloor en ek kan dit nêrens vind nie.
Sipho: Is dit nie dalk by die restaurant nie? Bel hulle maar.
Thandi: Goeie idee! Ek bel nou en vra of hulle dit het.
Thandi: Hulle het dit gevind! Dit was agter ’n stoel.
Sipho: Wonderlik! Wanneer gaan jy dit haal?
Thandi: Ek gaan dit nou-nou haal, want dit is net vyf minute van hier.
Sipho: Neem ’n sambreel saam, want dit reën nog.
Thandi: Dankie daarvoor. Ek het ’n sambreel; dit is groot en geel.
Sipho: Dan sal almal dit sien!
Thandi: Totsiens, Sipho. Ek sê later hoe dit gegaan het.
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Part D: Grammar Notes for the Genre Section
Dit has four jobs in the thread. It is the dummy subject in dit reën (10.18, 10.27), Dit is jammer (10.19), Hoe gaan dit … ? (10.17), dit is net vyf minute (10.26) and hoe dit gegaan het (10.30). It is the object for a thing already named in ek kan dit nêrens vind (10.21), Hulle het dit gevind (10.24), Wanneer gaan jy dit haal? (10.25) and Dan sal almal dit sien (10.29). It is the subject for a thing already named in Dit was baie lekker (10.20, the meal), Dit was agter ’n stoel (10.24) and dit is groot en geel (10.28). And it is the word that says who is speaking, in Dit is Thandi (10.16), as in Section D, 8.
The trui: after it is named in 10.21, the jersey is dit every time it is mentioned again (10.21 to 10.26). The sambreel is dit in 10.28. In speech some speakers might use hy or hom for such an object, but dit is always correct.
Daarvoor (10.28): daar + voor, “for it”. Here it means “for that”, the advice that Sipho has just given. See Section D, 6. Compare Dankie vir die raad, with the noun, “Thank you for the advice”.
Dit before nie: kan dit nêrens vind nie (10.21) has dit early, before the adverb nêrens, “nowhere”, and a single nie at the end of the clause, since nêrens already makes the sentence negative. Is dit nie dalk by die restaurant nie? (10.22) has the two nie’s of the double negative, with dit between the verb and the first nie.
Word order in the questions: Hoe gaan dit in Stellenbosch? (10.17) has the question word, the verb, and then dit; Wat het julle gisteraand gedoen? (10.19) has het second and the participle at the end; Wanneer gaan jy dit haal? (10.25) has gaan second and the infinitive haal at the end. Is dit nie dalk … ? (10.22) has the verb first.
Of hulle dit het (10.23): the clause after of sends the verb to the end, with dit before it. So does hoe dit gegaan het (10.30), an indirect question, where the participle gegaan and het are at the end. After want (10.26, 10.27) the verb stays second, as in a main clause: want dit is net vyf minute.
Neem ’n sambreel saam (10.27): the separable verb saamneem, “take along”, splits in the command: neem … saam. The same is true of oopmaak in 10.14 when it follows a modal: kan dit nie oopmaak nie.
Bel hulle maar (10.22): the command Bel!, “Phone!”, with the object hulle, and maar, “just”, as in 9.23. Hulle is the pronoun “them” for the people at the restaurant.
Totsiens (10.30): “goodbye”, written as one word.
Nou-nou (10.26): “in a little while”, hyphenated; see Lesson 8, Section E. Here it means soon.
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Dit /dət/ and dis /dəs/: the vowel is the weak central /ə/, as in the unstressed syllables of Afrikaans. Dis is written as one word for dit is, without an apostrophe: dis warm.
Dit is written with a small d inside a sentence, and with a capital only at the start: Dit is warm. In 10.18 the first Dit has a capital because it opens the sentence, and the dit after maar is small.
Daarvan, daarmee, daarvoor, daarop and daarin are each written as one word.
Reën has a diaeresis (two dots) on the second e. It shows that the ee is two sounds, /ɪə/, and not a separate e and n. Geëet is the same: the dots show that ge- and eet are separate syllables, /χəˈɪət/, as in Lesson 9.
Môre and gesê have a circumflex. Nêrens has a circumflex on the e: /ˈnɛːrəns/.
Hyphen: nou-nou is written with a hyphen. Compounds are written as one word: Goeiemôre (10.16), gisteraand (10.19), oopmaak (10.14), sambreel (10.27), totsiens (10.30).
Capital letters: God and Hy in Section F are capitalised because they refer to God. The pronoun dit has no capital letter inside a sentence, in Section F as elsewhere.
The apostrophe in ’n is at the top, before the n, and the word is pronounced /ə/. It stands at the start of a sentence as ’n, with the next word capitalised: ’n Mens kan nie alles hê nie.
The IPA in this lesson follows standard Afrikaans, with each word said on its own, as in Lessons 1 to 9.
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✓ Lesson 10 Afrikaans complete — dit (it)
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Course Index: [latinum.substack.com/p/index](https://latinum.substack.com/p/index)