Negation is, very simply put, the so-called “negative form” in a language. We use it when we want to express the opposite of a positive or affirmative statement. What is the negative form in Afrikaans? Let’s dig in!

One of the most fascinating features of the Afrikaans language is its use of the double negative, which means that two negatives resolve into one negative. For instance, in English one would say, “He cannot speak Afrikaans,” and only use the word ‘not’ once. However, to express the negative in Afrikaans, we usually have to use the negating word twice:   

Sy kan nie Afrikaans praat nie.
Literally: “She cannot Afrikaans speak not.”

The negating word in the example above is nie and, as you will have gathered, nie means “not.” It sounds like “knee” in English, but a bit shorter and sharper on the ‘ee’ (like the ‘i’ in it). Nie is equivalent to the German nicht and the Dutch niet, but it’s used differently, of course.

No one really knows where this practice of using the double negative originated. Some say it may have its roots in the French language, and others suggest that it may have been borrowed from the San languages of Southern Africa. Negating with a double negative can also be found in Middle English, such as in Chaucer’s work, who sometimes used a triple negative!

Double negation still appears in regional and ethnical dialects such as Southern American English, African American vernacular English, and various British regional dialects, according to Wikipedia. Think: “You don’t know nothing,” or “He didn’t go nowhere today.” Whatever the source may be, the double negative is not extensively employed and, especially in the dialects, its use is frowned upon by the purists.

Double negation also occurs in other Germanic languages, such as can be found in villages in the center of the Netherlands and in Low Franconian dialects in West-Flanders—and even then, it’s used differently. The way the negative form in Afrikaans is expressed remains unique.  

While using the Afrikaans double negative may seem strange at first, once you grow accustomed to it, it will start to feel quite natural. Learning how to use it isn’t difficult, either.

However, before we begin with that, let’s start with the exception to the rule of the double negative. This exception uses a form more similar to that of other languages and employs only one negation word.  

Table of Contents

1. The Rule of “One Knee”
2. The Rule of “Two Knees”
3. Changing Meaning – Placement of the First Nie
4. Adding Color with Adverbs and Adjectives that Express Denial
5. Converting Instructions and Requests to the Negative
6. Formal vs. Informal Imperatives
7. Negating Compound Sentences
8. Answers to Exercises:
9. How Can AfrikaansPod101 Help You Learn the Negative in Afrikaans?

1. The Rule of “One Knee”

It may be a bit convoluted, but the mnemonic “one knee” should serve to remind you of the simplicity of singularity. The one nie is used only in straightforward, relatively simple sentences.

1. The single nie is used mostly in simple statement sentences, including those with reflexive or transitive verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and pronouns.
2. It’s used mostly in present tense sentences. With other tenses, the single nie works only when certain hulpwerkwoorde van tyd (literally: “auxiliary verbs of time”) occur.

Let’s take a closer look at what this means.

A.1 In Simple Statement Sentences

To state the negative in Afrikaans using simple statement sentences, we put only ONE nie (knee!) after the verb, at the end of the sentence. That’s it! It looks like this:

– Short statement sentences: 

• Hulle sien nie. – “They don’t see.”
• Die rekenaar werk nie. – “The computer doesn’t work.”

– Statement sentences with a transitive verb and a pronoun:

Sometimes you need to be more specific and would then use a pronoun. In such a case, the One Knee rule applies mostly to statement sentences with transitive verbs in which the object is indicated with a pronoun. Read here all about Afrikaans pronouns!

• Hulle waardeer haar nie. – “They don’t appreciate her.”
  Literally: “They appreciate her not.”

• Sy eet dit nie. – “She doesn’t eat it.”
  Literally: “She eats it not.”

– Statement sentences with an adjective and/or adverb:

Sometimes you need to be more descriptive in order to illuminate the subject or the action. Adding adjectives and/or adverbs won’t affect the One Knee rule.

• Die nuwe rekenaar werk ongelukkig nie. – “The new computer, unfortunately, doesn’t work.”
  Literally: “The new computer works unfortunately not.”

A.2 Mostly in the Present Tense

As you may have noticed, these sentences are all in the simple present tense. In fact, this practice is not too dissimilar to negating the present tense verb in English by adding not. 

• Hy sing. – “He is singing.” OR “He sings.”
• Hy sing nie. – “He is not singing.” OR “He doesn’t sing.”
  Literally: “He sings not.”

Note: We don’t have a continuous tense in Afrikaans! Read all about Afrikaans tenses here.

In the Afrikaans past and future tenses, the One Knee rule applies only to very short, simple statement sentences with the following auxiliary verbs that indicate tense in Afrikaans. As mentioned, we call them hulpwerkwoorde van tyd.

Past Tense:      Hy was nie. – “He wasn’t.”
                         Hy wou nie. – “He didn’t want to.”
                         Hy het nie. – “He didn’t.”

Future Tense: Hy sal nie OR Hy gaan nie. – “He won’t.”

2. The Rule of “Two Knees”

Although things may seem to be getting a bit more complicated, there’s no need to panic about the negative form in Afrikaans! You simply need to remember to find the first part of the verb (whether it’s a base or an auxiliary verb) in the sentence, put a nie after it, and then put another nie at the very end of the sentence.

As we saw in the previous example, to negate very simply, we could say: Hy sing nie. (Lit. “He sings not.”) However, if we need to be more specific and have to introduce a direct or indirect object, the negation always doubles.

• Hy sing (base verb) nie in Afrikaans (direct object) nie.
  “He doesn’t sing in Afrikaans.”

• Hy sing (base verb) nie vir haar (indirect object) nie.
  “He doesn’t sing for her.”

When we use auxiliary verbs that indicate the past or future tenses, the negation also usually doubles:

• Hy sal (auxiliary verb, future tense) nie sing nie.
  “He will not sing.”

• Hy wou (auxiliary verb, past tense) nie sing nie.
  “He didn’t want to sing.”

What About the Be-Verbs?

In the present and past tenses, the be-verb is usually the main verb; in the future tense, the be-verb is an auxiliary verb. However, they all take the double negation.

Take a look at these negatives in Afrikaans:

Be-Verb Negation

PRESENT Tense Affirmative: is (“is,” “to be”) Die kat is oulik.  “The cat is cute.”	PRESENT Tense Negation: is nie (“is not”) Die kakkerlak is nie o ulik nie.  “The cockroach is not cute.”
PAST Tense Affirmative: was (“was”) Die deur was toe.  “The door was closed.”	PAST Tense Negation: was nie (“was not”) Die deur was nie toe nie.  “The door was not closed.”
FUTURE Tense Affirmative: sal wees / gaan wees (“will be,” “shall be”) Die weer sal warm wees. “The weather will be warm.”	FUTURE Tense Negation: sal nie wees nie (“will not be”) Die weer sal nie koud wees nie. “The weather will not be cold.”

3. Changing Meaning – Placement of the First Nie

While the rule remains true that one should put the first nie after the first verb in the sentence, sentences can sometimes become quite long and complex.

In terms of negation, this means that:

a) the first nie can be placed in various positions after the first werkwoord (“verb”) or hulpwerkwoord van tyd. (Lit. “auxiliary verb of time”); and

b) where one places it can change the meaning of the sentence. 

Consider the following sentence in the future tense: 

• Sy gaan nie môre met haar nuwe bikini op die strand tan nie. 
  “She is not going to tan on the beach in her new bikini tomorrow.”

The entire sentence is negated because the nie is placed directly after what is, in Afrikaans, an auxiliary verb that indicates the future tense: gaan. 

• Sy gaan môre nie met haar nuwe bikini op die strand tan nie. Sy sal iets anders dra.
  “She is not going to tan on the beach in her new bikini tomorrow. She will wear something else.”

In this case, the nie directly precedes “haar nuwe bikini” (her new bikini) and therefore negates only that phrase.

• Sy gaan môre met haar nuwe bikini nie op die strand tan nie. Sy gaan elders tan.
  “She is not going to tan on the beach in her new bikini tomorrow. She will tan somewhere else.”

In this case, the nie directly precedes op die strand (on the beach) and therefore negates only that phrase. 

• Sy gaan môre met haar nuwe bikini op die strand nie tan nie. Sy gaan iets anders doen as tan.
  “She is not going t tan on the beach in her new bikini tomorrow. She will do something other than tanning.”

In this case, the nie directly precedes the second verb “tan” (tan) and therefore negates only that action. 

It should be clear from the above explanations that one must be sure to place the first nie after the first verb in the sentence, and directly before the phrase or word one wants to negate. 

4. Adding Color with Adverbs and Adjectives that Express Denial

That said, negative sentences in Afrikaans do not always require for the word nie to be the first word of negation. Sometimes, to add a bit of color to your speech, you can use additional negation vocabulary in lieu of the first nie. This strengthens the tone of what you’re saying and makes it more specific and descriptive, like this:

Sy praat nooit Afrikaans nie. “She never speaks Afrikaans. “Lit. “She never speaks Afrikaans not.”

Die lesse is gladnie lank nie. “The lessons are not long at all. “Lit. “The lessons are not at all long not.”

These additional negation words are adverbs (bywoorde), adjectives (byvoeglike naamwoorde), and auxiliary verbs that express denial and, as you can see, they make the sentence a little more specific and descriptive. Just remember that you still need to add the nie at the end of the sentence! 

Here are some examples of auxiliary verbs, adverbs, and adjectives that can be used for denial. 

D.1 Woorde wat vir Ontkenning Gebruik Word / “Words that are Used for Denial”

Affirmative	Negative
enige (“any”) / een (“one”) Daar is een oefening.  “There is one exercise.”	geen (“no,” “none,” “not”) Daar is geen oefeninge nie. “There are no exercises.”
enigsins (“at all”) Is dit enigsins moeite vir jou? “Is it trouble for you at all?”	geensins (“by no means,” “in no way”) Dit is geensins moeite nie. “It is no trouble at all.”
êrens (“somewhere”) Dit is êrens. “It is somewhere.”	nêrens (“nowhere”) Ek kan dit nêrens vind nie.  “I can’t find it anywhere.”
iemand (“someone”) Daar was iemand. “There was someone.”	niemand (“nobody,” “no one”) Daar was niemand nie.  “There was no one.”
iets (“something”) Die bobbejaan het iets oorgekom. “Something happened to the baboon.”	niks (“nothing”) Die bobbejaan het niks oorgekom nie.  “Nothing happened to the baboon.”
ooit (“ever”) Sal jy my ooit verraai? “Will you ever betray me?”	nooit (“never”) Ek sal jou nooit verraai nie!  “I will never betray you!”
nog (“still”) Ek kan nog die geraas verdra. “I can still tolerate the noise.”	nie meer (“no longer”) Ek kan die geraas nie meer verdra nie! “I can’t stand that noise anymore!”
beslis (“indeed,” “definitely”) Dit is beslis ‘n probleem. “That is definitely a problem.”	gladnie (“not at all”) Dit is gladnie ‘n probleem nie.  “That is not a problem at all.”
al (“yet”) Het hy al sy werk gedoen? “Has he done his work yet?”	nog nie (“not yet”) Hy het nog nie sy werk gedoen nie.  “He has not yet done his work.”
tog (“and yet”) Daar was amper g’n reën nie; tog is die dam vol.  “There’s been almost no rain, and yet the dam is full.”	tog nie (“and yet not”) Daar was baie reën; tog is the dam nie vol nie. “There was a lot of rain, and yet the dam is not full.”
heeltemal (“completely”) Ek is heeltemal verward. “I am utterly confused.”	nie heeltemal (“not completely”) Ek is nie heeltemal verward nie.  “I am not completely confused.”
iets (“something”) Kan ek iets vir jou doen?  “Can I do something for you?”	niks (“nothing”) Ek kan niks vir jou doen nie.  “I can’t do anything/can do nothing for you.”
moet (“must,” “should”) Jy moet my later bel.  “You must call me later.”	moenie (“don’t”) Jy moenie my later bel nie.  “You mustn’t call me later.” Note: Similar to the English “don’t,” this is the contracted form of moet nie (“do not”).
sal (“will,” “shall”) Ek sal die boek later lees.  “I will read the book later.”	sal nie (“will not”) Ek sal die boek nie later lees nie.  “I will not read the book later.”
gaan (“will”) Ek gaan more studeer. “I will study tomorrow.”	gaan nie (“will not”) Ek gaan nie more studeer nie. “I will not study tomorrow.”

5. Converting Instructions and Requests to the Negative

Giving instructions/commands and making requests are things that we often do, so it’s important to be able to convert these to their negative form. 

E.1 Giving Instructions and Commands

Converting instructions to their negative form is not that difficult. Have a look at this instruction and its negative form:

Instruction: Sit daar! / “Sit there!”
Instruction – Negative Form: Moenie daar sit nie! / “Don’t sit there!” (Literally. “Don’t sit there not.”)

As you can see, we added the word moenie to the instruction and then added nie at the end of the sentence in order to convert it to the negative form. The word moenie (“don’t”) is a contraction of the words moet (do) and nie (not). 

In Afrikaans, when you add moenie to the sentence, you must then move the verb (sit, in this case) to the end and follow that with the ubiquitous nie.

A few more examples: 

Instruction – Positive Form	Instruction – Negative Form
Staan op!  “Stand up!”	Moenie opstaan nie! “Don’t stand up!” Lit. “Don’t up-stand not!”
Kom later terug! “Come back later!” Lit. Come later back!	Moenie later terugkom nie!  “Don’t come back later!” Lit. “Don’t later back come not.”
Gaan weg! “Go away!”	Moenie weggaan nie!  “Don’t go away!”  Lit. “Don’t away-go not!”
Kyk daar!  “Look there!”	Moenie daar kyk nie!  “Don’t look there!” Lit. “Don’t there look not!”

Did you notice that the verbs and adverbs got switched around in the negative? For example: 

“Kyk daar“ became “Moenie daar kyk nie.”

Where the adverb usually follows the verb in Afrikaans affirmative expressions, the opposite is true of the negative. This is a rule you should take note of. This switching sometimes results in the formation of a compound verb. Consider this: 

“Gaan weg!” becomes “Moenie weggaan nie!” and “Staan op!” becomes “Moenie opstaan nie!“

EXERCISE I

Why not try to negate in Afrikaans yourself? Read the affirmative expressions, write your negative answers (using moenie) down somewhere, and check them against the list of answers at the end of this article. Don’t worry, you won’t have to combine any verbs and adverbs!  Eet die kos! – “Eat the food!” Drink jou medisyne! – “Drink your medicine!” Sing hard! – “Sing loudly!” Praat vinnig! – “Speak quickly!”

6. Formal vs. Informal Imperatives

While the rule is that you should add moenie to an instruction (also called an imperative) in order to make it negative, a formal, more polite imperative will get an asseblief (“please”). As soon as you do this, there is another set of rules that apply. Have a look at the following: 

Informal imperative: Moenie opstaan nie! / “Don’t stand up!”
Formal imperative: Moet asseblief nie opstaan nie. / “Please don’t stand up.”

As you can see, when you add asseblief to the negative sentence, you need to: 

1. break the compound moenie into its component words moet and nie;
2. put the asseblief (“please”) between the moet and the nie; and
3. remember to add the final nie at the end! 

Here are some more examples using the same informal instructions as in exercise E.1, but now converted to formal imperatives.

Informal Imperative	Formal Imperative
Moenie later terug kom nie!  “Don’t come back later!”	Moet asseblief nie later terugkom nie. “Please don’t come back later.”
Moenie daar kyk nie!  “Don’t look there!”	Moet asseblief nie daar kyk nie.  “Please don’t look there.”
Moenie weggaan nie!  “Don’t go away!”	Moet asseblief nie weggaan nie! “Please don’t go away!”

EXERCISE II

Your turn again, if you’d like. Just as before, read the formal affirmative expressions and write the negative down somewhere. Then check them against the list of answers at the end of this article.  Ry vinnig, asseblief. – “Drive fast, please.” Loop vinniger, asseblief. – “Walk faster, please.” Gooi die bal, asseblief. – “Throw the ball, please.” Tel die vuilgoed op, asseblief. – “Pick the rubbish up, please.”

7. Negating Compound Sentences

Quick grammar note: A simple sentence is one in which there is only a subject and a predicate, as illustrated by this sentence: 

Ek (subject) sien hom (predicate).
“I see him.”

Obviously, a compound sentence then contains more than one subject and more than one predicate. It consists of multiple clauses. Consider this compound sentence: 

Ek (subject) sien hom (predicate), maar hy (subject) sien my nie (predicate)
“I see him, but he doesn’t see me.”
Lit. “I see him, but he sees me not.”

When looking at compound sentences, an important point to remember is that if you’re negating the main clause, you should negate it as you would a standalone, simple sentence. Consider the following examples: 

Hy ry nie, want die verkeerslig is nie groen nie
“He’s not driving because the traffic light is not green.”
Lit. “He drives not, because the traffic light is not green not.”

Ek is nie fiks genoeg nie; dus sal ek nie aan the marathon deelneem nie. 
“I am not fit enough; therefore I won’t be participating in the marathon.”
Lit. “I am not fit enough not; therefore will I not in the marathon participate not.”

As discussed earlier, in compound sentences, we also only use negating words in the part of the sentence that we are negating. 

Have a look: 

Ek sal gaan stap as dit nie reën nie. 
“I will go for a walk if it doesn’t rain.”
Lit. “I will go walking if it not rains not.”

If only the main clause is negated, then we must put the first nie in the main clause and the second nie at the end of the sentence. Here’s an example: 

Ek het nie gedink dat jy my sal onthou nie. 
“I did not think that you would remember me.”
Lit. “I did not think that you me would remember not.”

8. Answers to Exercises: 

Converting instructions to the negative – Exercise I

Eet die kos! – “Eat the food!”	Moenie die kos eet nie! – “Don’t eat the food!”
Drink die medisyne! – “Drink the medicine!”	Moenie die medisyne drink nie! – “Don’t drink the medicine!”
Sing hard! – “Sing loudly!”	Moenie hard sing nie! – “Don’t sing loudly!”
Praat vinnig! – “Speak quickly!”	Moenie vinnig praat nie! – “Don’t speak quickly!”

Converting the polite affirmative to the polite negative – Exercise II

Ry vinnig, asseblief. – “Please drive fast.”	Moet asseblief nie vinnig ry nie. – “Please don’t drive fast.”
Loop vinniger, asseblief. – “Walk faster, please.”	Moet asseblief nie vinniger loop nie. – “Please don’t walk faster.”
Gooi die bal, asseblief. – “Throw the ball, please.”	Moet asseblief nie die bal gooi nie. – “Please don’t throw the ball.”
Tel die vuilgoed op, asseblief. – “Pick the rubbish up, please.”	Moet asseblief nie die vuilgoed optel nie. – “Please don’t pick up the rubbish.”

9. How Can AfrikaansPod101 Help You Learn the Negative in Afrikaans? 

We can assist you in learning Afrikaans negations in many ways! After all, that’s what we’re here for. Do you have any questions about the negative form in Afrikaans, or about these exercises? Please let us have them in the comments!

At AfrikaansPod101, we can help you understand Afrikaans easily with our hundreds of recorded video lessons, grammar and pronunciation guides, and these vocabulary lists.

Also, be sure to arm yourself with some words and phrases from our Afrikaans Key Phrase List and the Afrikaans Core 100 Word List. Remember to keep your Afrikaans online dictionary closeby for easy translation!

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• Your Definitive Guide to Proper Afrikaans Sentence Structure
• The Best Afrikaans Verbs List at Your Fingertips!
• Your Ultimate Afrikaans Pronunciation Guide

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About the author: Christa Davel is a bilingual (Afrikaans and English) freelance writer and journalist, and is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa.