INTRODUCTION |
In the previous lesson, we covered how to ask, "How do you say this in Afrikaans?" or in Afrikaans, Hoe sê jy dit in Afrikaans...? Do you remember? Since we don't want you to be caught off guard in any kind of situation in South Africa, we are going to introduce a new phrase that is very important to help you focus your skills, not on the sounds, but on the writing. |
BODY |
In Afrikaans, "Please write that down" is |
Kan u dit opskryf asseblief? |
Let's break it down by syllable. |
(slow) Kan u dit op-skryf as-se-blief. |
Let's see it once again. Kan u dit opskryf asseblief. |
We begin the sentence with Kan u, which means, "Could you." |
(slow) Kan u, |
Kan u, |
This is followed by dit, which is, "this." |
(slow) dit |
dit |
Next is the verb opskryf, which means, "to write down." |
(slow) opskryf |
opskryf |
Then, you can end the sentence with asseblief, which means “please.” |
(slow) asseblief |
asseblief |
So to recap here, we have Kan u dit opskryf asseblief? Literally, this means, "Please write it down." |
Next, we have another way to express the same meaning. Kan u dit vir my opskryf asseblief? It means ”Please write that down for me." Let's break it down by syllable. |
(slow) Kan u dit vir my op-skryf as-se-blief? |
Now let's see it once again. |
Kan u dit vir my opskryf asseblief? |
You just need to add vir my. It can be literally translated as, "for me." Let’s hear this once again. |
(slow) Vir my. |
Vir my. |
Altogether, we have Kan u dit vir my opskryf asseblief? meaning ”Please write it down for me." |
Once you have the written words, you may find that you have no idea how to pronounce them. In Afrikaans, "How do you pronounce this?" is Hoe spreek jy dit uit? You can say this while pointing at the word. Let's break it down by syllable. |
(slow) Hoe spreek jy dit uit? Now let's see it one more time. |
Hoe spreek jy dit uit? |
The first word hoe, means, "how." |
(slow) hoe |
hoe |
Then we have the two words, spreek and uit. They both make the complete verb Uitspreek, which is, "to pronounce." Between these words, we have jy, meaning, "you.” |
Let’s hear them again. |
(slow) spreek jy dit |
spreek jy dit |
And finally, we have dit, meaning, "this." |
(slow) dit |
dit |
To recap, the whole question is Hoe spreek jy dit uit? or in English “How do you pronounce this?” |
If you would like someone to write something down for you but you don't have a piece of paper or a pen, you can ask, "Do you have a pen and a paper, sir?" In Afrikaans, this is het u pen en papier meneer? Let's break it down by syllable. |
(slow) het u pen en pa-pier me-neer? |
Now let's see it once again. Het u pen en papier meneer? |
The first two words, het u, mean ”Do you have." |
(slow) Het u. |
Het u |
Next, we have pen, meaning, "pen." |
(slow) Pen. |
pen |
Then we have en, which is, "and." |
(slow) en |
en |
Next, we have papier meaning ”paper.” |
(slow) papier |
papier |
Finally, we have meneer, which you already know is, "sir." |
(slow) meneer |
meneer |
Let's now say the whole sentence once again. Het u pen en papier meneer? or in English "Do you have pen and paper, sir?" |
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