Afrikaans Adjectives

Grammar Tips:

While in English an adjective doesn’t change when the noun changes. In Afrikaans, when adjectives are used with the verb wees ("She is sick", "He is blonde") you can use the form of the adjective you'll find in the dictionary. However, when an adjective is directly modifying a noun (as in "She is a sick girl", "He has blonde hair") their form usually alter somewhat. This change is called inflection. As a general rule, polysyllabic adjectives are normally inflected; monosyllabic adjectives may or may not be inflected though, depending mostly on a set of rather complex phonological rules. When an adjective is inflected, it usually takes the ending -e and a series of morphological changes may result.

For example, the final t following an /x/ sound, which disappears in uninflected adjectives like reg, is restored when the adjective is inflected (regte). A similar phenomenon applies to the addition of t after /s/.

For example, the adjective vas becomes vaste when inflected. Conversely, adjectives ending in -d (pronounced /t/) or -g (pronounced /x/) following a long vowel or diphthong, lose the -d and -g when inflected.

For example:

 

Adjectives in Afrikaans come before nouns, like in English.

English	Afrikaans
	Uninflected	Inflected
black	swart	swarte
fast	vinnig	vinnige
deaf	doof	dowe
cold	koud	koue
low	laag	lae
high	hoog	hoë
Adjectives ending in a 'g' — add a 'te'
bad	sleg	slegte
Adjectives ending in 'f' — change it to two 'w's
stupid	laf	lawwe
Irregulars
good	goed	goeie
old	oud	ou, oue
new	nuut	nuwe

 

These are examples of when the adjectives doesn't change regardless of whether the name changes or not:

 

a)    Masculine and feminine examples:

 

Dit is my slim seun (this is my clever son) stays the same when we speak of the feminine, for example: Dit is my slim dogter (this is my clever daughter).

 

b)    Singular and plural examples:

 

Dit is my wit kat (this is my white cat) stays the same, for example: Dit is my wit katte remains: Dit is my wit katte (these are my white cats).