After the alphabet, mastering Afrikaans beginner words is the best place to start your Afrikaans learning journey. (Don’t have the Afrikaans alphabet under the belt yet? No problem! You should find this article and the free downloadable Guide for Beginners very useful.) Learning beginner words is essential in building vocabulary for basic communication.

If you’re busy trying to get your foot in the door and learn the basics of Afrikaans, then this is your one-stop vocabulary list for the most important Afrikaans words for beginners! For your convenience, we’ve grouped them into the main word types and included a few sample sentences to illustrate their use.

→ Also consider these 10 Great Reasons Why You Should Learn Afrikaans.

Begin Afrikaans leer met eenvoudige woordeskat. / “Start learning Afrikaans with simple vocabulary.”

Table of Contents

1. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Selfstandige Naamwoorde / “Common Nouns”
2. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Byvoeglike Naamwoorde / “Adjectives”
3. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Voornaamwoorde / “Pronouns”
4. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Telwoorde / “Counting Words”
5. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Werkwoorde / “Verbs”
6. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Bywoorde / “Adverbs”
7. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Voegwoorde / “Conjunctions”
8. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Lidwoorde / “Articles”
9. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Voorsetsels / “Prepositions”
10. Let AfrikaansPod101 Help You Learn Even More Afrikaans!

1. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Selfstandige Naamwoorde / “Common Nouns”

Nouns are the words we use to identify people, places, animals, and things. Beginners should focus on learning the Afrikaans words for the most familiar people as well as the most common places and items.

Fun Fact: Do you know the longest Afrikaans noun in existence? Nobody will blame you if you don’t—it’s 136 letters long and not commonly used at all!

Tweedehandsemotorverkoopsmannevakbondstakingsvergaderingsameroeperstoespraakskrywer-spersverklaringuitreikingsmediakonferensieaankondiging roughly translates to: “issuable media conference’s announcement at a press release regarding the convener’s speech at a second-hand car dealership union’s strike meeting.”

Die langste aangetekende woord in Afrikaans het te doen met ‘n persverklaring oor die uniestaking van tweedehandse-motor handelaars. / “The longest recorded word in Afrikaans is about a media release dealing with the union strike of secondhand-car dealerships.”

Note: The following nouns are all in the singular form, except for a few irregular nouns that remain identical for the plural and singular forms.

→ Learn here about the best of South African cuisine!

Selfstandige Naamwoorde / “Common Nouns”
Afrikaans	English
Mense en Familie / “People and Relatives”
vrou, man, kind, baba	woman, man, child, baby
ma	mom
pa	dad
seun, dogter, meisie	son / boy, daughter, girl
ouma, oupa	grandmother, grandfather
oom, tannie Note: These nouns are the names we call our parents’ siblings.  They’re also casual forms of address for Afrikaans people a lot older than us, even when we’re not related. This is a sign of respect towards older folks. The younger generation doesn’t care much how you address them, but, especially in more formal situations, it would be prudent to wait for an invitation before using people’s first names.	uncle, aunt / auntie
Liggaamsdele / “Body Parts”
lyf / liggaam, kop, hare, oor	body, head, hair, ear
oog, neus, mond, tand	eye, nose, mouth, tooth
arm, hand, vinger, nael	arm, hand, finger, nail
been, voet, toon	leg, foot, toe
Tyd / “Time”
uur, minuut	hour, minute
dag, week, maand, jaar	day, week, month, year
Beroep / “Profession”
baas, werker	boss, worker
dokter, verpleegkundige	doctor, nurse
onderwyser, polisiebeampte	teacher, police officer
Alledaagse Items  / “Everyday Items”
pen, papier, potlood, boek	pen, paper, pencil, book
selfoon, rekenaar	cell/mobile phone, computer
huis, stoel, tafel, bed	house, chair, table, bed
bord, mes, vurk, lepel	plate, knife, fork, spoon
klere, broek, hemp, rok, jas, skoen/e	clothes, pants, shirt, dress, jacket, shoe/s
Kos en Drank / “Food and Drink”
vrug, groente, vleis Note: Vleis and groente are irregular nouns that remain the same for the singular and plural forms.	fruit, vegetable, meat
brood, suiker, eier	bread, sugar, egg
pap, sous, kaas, pasta	cereal / porridge, gravy, cheese, pasta
water, koffie, tee, melk Note: Melk is an irregular noun as it remains the same for the singular and plural forms. Also, the Afrikaans waters (“waters”) is not a plural, but a mass name describing a big expanse of water. It’s a rather poetic term not commonly used in the vernacular. The use of the plural for tee (“tea”) is also uncommon.	water, coffee, tea, milk
Plekke en Geboue / “Places and Buildings”
land, stad, dorp	country, city, town
huis, tuiste, tuin	house, home, garden
kerk, skool, winkel	church, school, shop
Diere / “Animals”
kat, hond, voël	cat, dog, bird
slang, muis, perd	snake, mouse, horse

Die kat speel. / “The cat is playing.”

Got these easy Afrikaans words for beginners? Great! If you’re keen to speed up your learning, then also take a look at this article: Learn the 100 Most Common Nouns in Afrikaans.

Now for a few sentences with nouns and other basic Afrikaans words for beginners:

• My vrou is mooi. / “My wife is pretty.”
• Hy is ‘n dokter. / “He is a doctor.”
• Dit is ons huis. / “This is our house.”
• Die kat speel. / “The cat is playing.”

2. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Byvoeglike Naamwoorde / “Adjectives”

In sentences, adjectives are used to tell us more about the nouns. Adjectives possess a few characteristics:

1. They can add color and vibrancy to otherwise bland language. 
2. Sometimes, they’re simply informative and descriptive so as to assure accuracy and understanding.
3. Another feature is that they have degrees of comparison. For example: vinnig, vinniger, vinnigste / “fast, faster, fastest.”
4. In a sentence, they usually appear…

❖ …in front of a noun, which makes them attributiewe byvoeglike naamwoorde / “attributive adjectives.” (E.g. Dit is ‘n vinnige trein. / “It is a fast train.”)
❖ …or after the linking verb, which makes them predikatiewe byvoeglike naamwoorde / “predicative adjectives.” (E.g. Die trein is vinnig. / “The train is fast.”)

Note: Did you notice how the Afrikaans adjective modifies, depending on its position in the sentence?

Die trein is vinnig. / “The train is fast.”

For the purpose of this article, we’re only listing adjectives in their predicative form. This means that if you want to form a “beginner” sentence, you can simply insert any of the following adjectives after the linking verb is.

Byvoeglike Naamwoorde / “Adjectives”
Afrikaans	English
vriendelik	friendly
nors / onvriendelik	grumpy / unfriendly
oulik	cute
goed	good
sleg	bad
vlak	shallow
diep	deep
stadig	slow
vinnig	fast
hard	hard OR loud
sag	soft
soet	sweet
positief	positive
negatief	negative
groot	big
klein	small
mooi	pretty
lelik	ugly
maklik	easy
moeilik	difficult
bang	scared / afraid
kort	short
vet	fat
maer	thin
ryk	rich / wealthy
arm	poor
slim	smart
dom	stupid
meer	more
minder	less
blou, geel, rooi (All colors are adjectives, only occasionally nouns.)	blue, yellow, red
helder	clear / bright
snaaks	funny
moeg	tired
bo	on top
onder	under / below
agter	behind
lank	long
suiwer	pure

Here’s what predicative adjectives would look like in beginner Afrikaans sentences.

• Die water is suiwer. / “The water is pure.”
• Ons reis is lank. / “Our journey is long.”
• Die grap is snaaks. / “This joke is funny.”

Die grap is snaaks. / “The joke is funny.”

Ready to speak and write more descriptively? That’s great! Be sure to take a look at The Essential Afrikaans Adjectives List for more inspiration. 

3. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Voornaamwoorde / “Pronouns”

Most languages have different types of pronouns, which are substitutes or “place keepers” for articles and nouns. Without them, a language would sound clumsy, because you would repeatedly be using articles and nouns (such as “the boy”, or the boy’s name—Aiden, for instance) in sentences. Pronouns allow you to sometimes replace “the boy”, or “Aiden”, with “he”, and to refer to Aiden’s possessions as “his”. 

So, to be clear—in this example, “he” and “his” are two of the three types of pronouns in English.

Because pronouns are so common, have an important syntactic purpose, and are usually not that complex to learn, we’ve included them in our list of basic Afrikaans words for beginners. Also, take a look at this Best List of Must-Know Afrikaans Pronouns!

In the list below, we’ve differentiated between different types of pronouns, as this information is good to know from the onset.

3.1 Persoonlike Voornaamwoorde – Voorwerp/ “Personal Pronouns – Subject”

Note: Personal pronouns are the subject in sentences, or, in other words—they perform the action as indicated by the verb.

To illustrate with a simple English sentence: “He helps me”.

He = personal pronoun, subject (performing the action.)
me = personal pronoun, direct object (‘receiving’ the action.)

Afrikaans	English
ek	I
u – singular and plural formal	you
jy – singular informal	you
hy	he
sy	she
dit	it
ons	we
julle – plural, informal	you
hulle	they
Ek eet. / “I eat.” OR “I am eating.” Sy is welkom. / “She is welcome.” Dit styg op” / “It’s taking off.”

Dit styg op” / “It’s taking off.”

3.2 Persoonlike Voornaamwoorde – Onderwerp/ “Personal Pronouns – Object”

The object pronouns, as the name indicates, serve as the object in a sentence. Or, in other words, it indicates the person or object who ‘receives’ or upon whom an action is performed, so to speak. 

To use our previous example sentence: “He helps me“.

He = personal pronoun, subject (performing the action.)
me = personal pronoun, direct object (‘receiving’ the action.)

Afrikaans	English
my	me
jou – singular informal	you
hom	him
haar	her
dit  Note: When this refers to something or someone, it’s a personal pronoun. However, like in English, it’s also used to refer to natural or other phenomena such as rain, snow, wind, haunting, etc. Then it’s called an onpersoonlike voornaamwoord (literally: “impersonal pronoun”). Such as in the sentence: Dit spook (literally: “It is haunting”) or Dit reën (“It is raining”).	it
julle – plural, informal	them
hulle	me
Dit pla my. / “It bothers me.” Die man soen haar. / “The man kisses her.” Sy kul ons. / “She is cheating us.”

Die man soen haar. / “The man kisses her.”

3.3 Besitlike Voornaamwoorde / “Possessive Pronouns”

As the name suggests, these pronouns indicate possession. Some are modified depending on their position in a sentence, but we will not be looking at any modifications here.

Afrikaans	English
my	my
jou – singular, informal	your
u – singular and plural, formal	your
sy	his
haar	her
ons	our
julle – plural, informal	your/s
hulle	their
Vra sy ma. / “Ask his mom.” Dis haar boek. / “It’s her book.” Hulle kos is lekker. / “Their food is tasty.”

Hulle kos is lekker. / “Their food is tasty.”

3.4 Aanwysende Voornaamwoorde / “Demonstrative Pronouns”

These pronouns are used to indicate something specific in a sentence. Beginners only need to master one.

Afrikaans	English
dié Note: This can be a pronoun OR an article, depending on whether it’s used with a noun. Often, die is pronounced with emphasis when it’s used as a pronoun.	this
Dié is mooi. / “This is pretty.”

3.5 Vraende Voornaamwoorde / “Interrogative Pronouns”

These pronouns appear most often at the start of a sentence, or alone as a question. Here are the beginner ones. 

They’re also referred to as “question words” and many of them start with “W”.

Afrikaans	English
Wat?	What?
Wie?	Who?
Waar?	Where?
Wanneer?	When?
Hoe?	How?
Wat doen jy? / “What are you doing?” Wie is dit? / “Who is that?” Waar is die badkamer? / “Where is the bathroom?”

Waar is die badkamer? / “Where is the bathroom?”

4. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Telwoorde / “Counting Words”

These words always have something to do with numbers. The only type of counting word we’re going to look at here is called bepaalde hooftelwoorde (approximate: “primary counting words”). These are basically the names of numbers.

When you’re studying a new language, numbers are important to learn right from the start. They’re used to indicate important things such as the date and time, age, quantity, and lots more!

The numbers one through ten are very easy Afrikaans words for beginners. However, if you’re looking to learn more about the subject, you might find this article helpful: The Best Tips About Afrikaans Numbers 1 – 30 and Beyond.

Telwoorde / “Counting Words”
Afrikaans	English
1. een	one
2. twee	two
3. drie	three
4. vier	four
5. vyf	five
6. ses	six
7. sewe	seven
8. agt	eight
9. nege	nine
10. tien	ten
Aiden het twee selfone. / Literally: “Aiden has two cell phones.” ‘n Week het sewe dae. / “A week has seven days.” Sy is tien jaar oud. / “She is ten years old.”

Ongelyke getalle / “Odd numbers”

5. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Werkwoorde / “Verbs”

Verbs, as you know, are the words that name the action or actions in a sentence. 

When learning a new language, these are crucial words to know and might possibly be the most difficult to learn. This is because verbs, being action words, also tend to be the ones that change according to tense. This change in verbs is called “conjugation”.

Grammar Tip: Conjugations also appear in Afrikaans, but fortunately, learning these tense-based adaptations of verbs is not that difficult. One of the reasons for this is that, in Afrikaans, the verb form does not change for different persons. We only use verb conjugations for time!  Most languages share this feature. Conjugation often includes the following features: the spelling of the verb changes completely,  another word is added to the verb, or the ending or beginning of the verb is altered.

➢ If you’d like to learn more about grammatical details about Afrikaans verbs, also have a look at this article.

For the purposes of this article, we’ll be looking at the different types of Afrikaans verbs, with a brief overview of how to use them in the present tense only. The present tense refers to actions taking place in the present, and in Afrikaans, it’s easy to learn. Unlike in English, there are no additional forms of the present tense (such as the present continuous tense, for instance).

What’s important is that the present tense refers to something that is always true or done on a regular basis. It’s also used for something that is occurring now.

Hulle loop. / “They are walking” OR “They walk.”

5.1 Hoofwerkwoorde  / “Independent Verbs”

These are the most commonly used verbs in the present tense.

Afrikaans	English
loop	walk (or run, for water)
staan	stand
sit	sit
lê	lay
slaap	sleep
droom	dream
hardloop	run
draf	jog
pak	pack
studeer	study
skryf	write
tik	type
speel	play
werk	work
kry	get / fetch
nooi	invite
swem	swim
fliek	movie
kies	choose
mis	miss
kuier	visit / hang out
betaal	pay
help	help
toer	tour
gee	give
neem / vat	take
bly	stay
gaan	go
reën	rain
maak	make
praat	talk
hou van	like
vind	find
dink	think
koop	buy
verkoop	sell
bring	bring
bel	phone
vra	ask
sien	see
roep	call
weet	know
dink	think
praat	talk
gesels	chat
lag	laugh
skree	shout
huil	cry
waai	wave
kyk	look
luister	listen
eet	eat
proe	to taste
drink	drink
herhaal	repeat
stuur	send
Die man slaap. / “The man sleeps.” Hy droom. / “He is dreaming.” Hy lê. / “He lays (down).”

Hy droom. / “He is dreaming.” OR “He dreams.”

5.2. Koppelwerkwoorde / “Linking Verbs”

Linking verbs are those words in sentences that join a subject with a specific word or phrase that gives more information about it (the subject). 

Linking verbs are easily confused with main verbs, but as I mentioned before, they are always followed by an adjective, i.e. a word or phrase that qualifies the subject in a sentence.

Koppelwerkwoorde / “Linking Verbs”
Afrikaans	English
is	is
smaak	tastes
klink	sound
ruik	smell
lyk	look
voel	feel
Sy lyk moeg. / “She looks tired.” Die kos smaak fantasties. / “The food tastes fantastic.” Ek voel goed. / “I feel good.”

Ek voel goed. / “I feel good.”

6. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Bywoorde / “Adverbs”

Adverbs are verbs’ best friends—they tell us more about them. 

Note: You’ll see that adjectives and adverbs have similar functions and that their differentiation depends on the presence of a main verb. Just like adjectives, adverbs add flavor and flair to language, as well as details to increase accuracy and specificity.

As you’ve already learned, the linking or be-verb (koppelwerkwoord) is / “is” in a sentence indicates that the following word (or phrase) could be an adjective because it qualifies the noun. 

Grammar Tip: If there’s no linking verb in a sentence, it indicates that you’re probably dealing with an adverb. For instance: Adjective: Die man is vinnig. / “The man is fast.” – with the linking verb is (“is”). Adverb: Die man hardloop vinnig. / “The man runs fast.” – without a linking verb. Did you notice that vinnig (“fast”) in the second sentence modifies the main verb (“runs”), and not the noun (“man”)? Important to note is that in English, this only applies to the simple present and future tenses—not the present continuous. We don’t have these types of time distinctions in Afrikaans.

In Afrikaans, we have different types of adverbs, of which the following will be good to know as beginner words in Afrikaans:

1. Bywoorde van wyse – “Adverbs of manner”
2. Bywoorde van plek – “Adverbs of place”
3. Bywoorde van tyd – “Adverbs of time”
4. Bywoorde van graad – “Adverbs of degree”

Hulle loop stadig. / “They walk slowly.” OR “They are walking slowly.”

6.1 Bywoorde van Wyse / “Adverbs of Manner”

Adverbs of manner tell us more about the nature of common verbs.

Afrikaans	English
hard	loudly / hard
sag	softly
hoog	highly
laag	low
wonderlik	wonderfully
goed	well
sleg	badly / poorly
heerlik	Approximate: tasty, wonderful
vinnig	fast
stadig	slowly
bang	scary
moeg	tiredly
Hy skryf goed. / “He writes well.” Dit voel hard. / “It feels hard.” Die pannekoek proe heerlik. / Approximate: “The pancake tastes wonderful.”

Die pannekoek smaak heerlik. / Approximate: “The pancake tastes wonderful.”

6.2 Bywoorde van Plek / “Adverbs of Position/Place”

As you can probably guess, adverbs of position tell us more about where an action takes place.

Afrikaans	English
buite	outside
binne	inside
orals	everywhere
hier	here
daar	there
Ons sit binne. / “We are sitting inside.” Dit sneeu buite. / “It snows outside.” Daar loop hy. / Literally: “There he walks.”

Dit sneeu buite. / “It snows outside.”

6.3 Bywoorde van Tyd / “Adverbs of Time”

These adverbs will answer questions related to time, such as “When?” or “What day?”

Afrikaans	English
vandag	today
gister	yesterday
more	tomorrow
nou	now
dan	then
later	later
Ek werk vandag. / “I’m working today.” Sy speel more. / “She’s playing tomorrow.” Nou slaap die baba. / “Now the baby sleeps.”

Nou slaap die baba. / “Now the baby sleeps.”

6.4 Bywoorde van Graad / “Adverbs of Degree”

These adverbs are often words that answer the question: “How much?” Just like in English, they indicate the intensity of an act. While you’re still mastering the basics of Afrikaans, you only need to know this one:

Afrikaans	English
baie	very
DIe appel lyk baie goed. / “The apple looks very good.”

Die appel lyk baie goed. / “The apple looks very good.”

7. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Voegwoorde / “Conjunctions”

As you know, conjunctions are the so-called glue-words in Germanic languages. Their purpose is simple; they combine words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. For the purpose of this article, we’ll only look at the basics.

➢ To learn more, be sure to study this Afrikaans conjunctions article.

Afrikaans	English
maar	but
en	and
want / omdat	because
of	or
Ek praat maar hy bly stil. / “I talk but he keeps quiet.” Ons slaap of ons kuier. / “We sleep or we chat.” Die weer is koud en nat. / “The weather is cold and wet.”

Die weer is koud en nat. / “The weather is cold and wet.”

8. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Lidwoorde / “Articles” 

Just like English, Afrikaans has only two articles—‘n (“a”) and die (“the”)—and in a sentence, they always take position ahead of a noun.

Die is a bepaalde lidwoord (“definite article”) that refers to something or someone specific. It’s used for both singular and plural nouns. Die slim politikus / “The clever politician” Die politikusse / “The politicians” ‘n is an onbepaalde lidwoord (“indefinite article”). It refers to a thing or person in general and always in the singular. Note that, in Afrikaans, this article remains a lower-case letter even at the start of sentences and phrases. The word that follows it is always written with a capital letter. ‘n Slim politikus / “A clever politician” ‘n Vorm / “A form”

9. Afrikaans Beginner Words – Voorsetsels / “Prepositions”

Prepositions are the last basic Afrikaans words for beginners that we’re going to look at. In a sentence, prepositions indicate the relative position of or the relationship between two separately expressed concepts. 

Note: They can indicate place and are therefore easily confused with adverbs of place, but don’t worry about that distinction too much at this point. Just learn the following, as they’re the most frequently used Afrikaans prepositions.  

Voorsetsels / “Prepositions”
Afrikaans	English
bo / bo-op	on (top of)
onder	under
in	in
uit	out
Ek sit op die stoel. / “I’m sitting on the chair.” Klim in die kar. / “Get in the car.” Die lekkergoed val uit die blik uit. / “The candy falls out of the tin.”

Ek sit op die stoel. / “I’m sitting on the chair.” OR “I sit on the chair.”

And that’s it, your list of easy Afrikaans words for beginners! 

10. Let AfrikaansPod101 Help You Learn Even More Afrikaans!

In this article on words in Afrikaans for beginners, you learned the core words you should know in a variety of categories. But don’t stop here! 

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Don’t hesitate to subscribe now! With our excellent Afrikaans word lessons for beginners, you’ll build a solid foundation to help you master the language and sound like a native in no time.

Before you go: How many of these words did you know already? Let us know in the comments!

About the author: Christa Davel is a bilingual (Afrikaans and English) freelance writer and journalist, and is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa. She’s been writing for InnovativeLanguage.com since 2017.