Types of words – Woordsoorte

Die selfstandige naamwoord (s.nw.) = the noun

Meervoude = plurals , verkleinwoorde = diminunitives

S.NW – selfstandige naamwoord = the noun

What is a noun?

- Anything you can see touch or feel – common noun

**** this is a selfstandige naamwoord in Afrikaans ****

- A name of a person/place – proper noun

**** this is a Eienaam in Afrikaans ****

- A feeling – abstract noun

**** this is a Abstrakte s.nw. in Afrikaans****

- A group of things – collective nouns

**** this is a Versamelnaam in Afrikaans****

What can I do with S.NW.?

There are two ways of asking about s.nw.

1. Meervoude – Plurals

2. Verkleinwoorde – Diminutives

Meervoude – Plurals

In the question look for the word meervoud or baie or meer as een.

Meervoude can be made by adding the following:

- e , s , ers, hede , ens, te

There are different rules to follow by looking at the structure of the word.

Always pay attention to the length of the word( the syllables) and the vowels.

Rule 1 : short words with just one vowel

** remember the vowels are the gansters of the alphabet world! Here there is only one ganster and he doesn’t like being alone. So he calls his fans and his friends ( entourage) to come and help him.

Bv. man – there is one lonely ganster

manne – We double the last letter of the word so the gangster has his friends with him

Bv. kat – katte , mat – matte , ster – sterre, vis – visse

Rule 2: twin vowels – now I have two identical gangsters, they look the same and they sound the same. A gangster doesn’t want to be copied and the first born is the strongest. These vowels have a fight and the first born kicks the second over the consenant and he changes form – into a e.

Bv maan – do you see the two identical gansters?

mane – the first gangster kicks the second over the consenant and he changes to an e.

Rule 3: words with double vowels – double vowels mean two different vowels together.

Bv. dier - diere

voet – voete

huis – huise

Do you see I just added an e ?

Mixed vowels = + -e

Rule 4: double consenants

Bv. Vark - varke

dorp – dorpe

present – presente

Do you see I just added an e?

Rule = double

consenants + e

Rule 5: Words ending in –ing , words with more than one syllable ending in an –r and words that end –ie , words that end in a vowel but the stress of the word is on another part of the word:

Bv. koning – konings

ond/er/wys/er – onderwysers

boompie – boompies

ouma - oumas

Do you see I just added an –s

to all of these words?

Rule 6: words ending in - ig just add –te

- bv. gesig - gesigte

lig - ligte

Rule 7: words ending in – ag just dropp the g and and e

- bv. vraag – vrae

dag – dae

Rule 8: words ending in – heid becomes – hede

- bv. besigheid – besighede - Moeilikheid – moeilikhede

REMEMBER WORDS ENDING ON A –F ARE ALWAYS TROUBLE… JUST LIKE THAT F WORD

Rule 9: word with a short vowel ending in a F

Bv. gif – giwwe

stof – stowwe

straf – strawwe

Rule 10: word with a twin vowel or a mixed vowel ending in a F

Bv. Stoof – stowe

slaaf – slawe

duif -duiwe

verf –verwe

One ganster therefore double

the -w

2 gansters so only one

–w

Rule 11: words ending in –og

Bv. oorlog - oorloë

oog - oë

elmboog - elmboë

Rule 12: words that get a ë

Bv. vlieg - vlieë

ploeg - ploeë

knieg - knieë

Words get a –ë; if there are two of the

same vowels ( 2 gangsters one

cancels the other)

The – g turns into a - ë

Words ending in a vowel – where the stress ( emphasis) on the vowels.

Bv. ma – ma’s

pa – pa ‘s

taxi – taxi ‘s

skadu – skadu ‘s

Words ending on – uig

bv. vliegtuig - vliegtuie

voertuig - voertuie

vaartuig - vaartuie

If the stress is on the last vowel use an ‘s

The g is cancelled and replaced by an –

e

Verkleinlwoorde dimunitives

The clue is in the word verkleinwoorde – klein = to make something smaller.

In the question look for words like klein, oulike, kort and so on. If you say klein before the word it might help you to “feel” it.

Verkleinwoorde can be made by adding the following:

- ie, - tjie, - jie, - kie, -pie, -etjie

There are different rules to follow by looking at the structure of the word.

Always pay attention to the length of the word( the syllables) and the vowels

Rule 1: short vowel word that ends on a –k,-p,-g, and –s

Bv. kas - kassie

bek - bekkie

rug – ruggie

kop - koppie

Rule 2: words that have twin vowels

Bv. aap – apie

rook – rokie

neef – nefie

One vowel means you have one lonely gangster – so you double the last letter of the word and

add –ie.

Twin vowels means you have two of the same gangster – so

one gangster kills the other one and you add – ie.

Rule 3: if you have a word with a double consonant or a mixed vowel

Bv. neus – neusie

broek – broekie

vurk – vurkie

Rule 4: word ending with an –m

Bv. boom – boompie

stroom –stroompie

arm –armpie

skelm – skelmpie

bruidegom – bruidegompie

If you have a mixed vowel or two or more consonants add –ie

Any word ending in an –m you just add –pie

Rule 5 : words with long vowels that end on a –n, words with double vowels and more than one syllable ending in -r and – l and – ie

Bv. Boon – boontjie

tuin – tuintjie

skoen – skoentjie

stoel – stoeltjie

ta/fel – tafeltjie

ron/da/wel – rondaweltjie

vloer – vloertjie

ven/ster – venstertjie

sus/ter – sustertjie

mandjie – mandjietjie

vakansie – vakansietjie

Meisie – meisietjie

Do you see that I just added a –tjie

to all these words?

Rule 6: words with short vowels ending in –n, -m, -r, -l and a –ing

Bv. kam - kammetjie

som – sommetjie

kar – karretjie

ster – sterretjie

man – mannetjie

son – sonnetjie

bal – balletjie

rol – rolletjie

ring – ringetjie

slang – slangetjie

long - longetjie

If the

word has only one vowel – that

means one lonely gangster doubles the last

letter of the word, if no lonely

gangster then you just add-

etjie .

Rule 7: if your word already ends in a –d or a –t

Bv. hond – hondjie

kat – katjie

mond – mondjie

boot – bootjie

Rule 8: if you have a word with 2 or 3 syllables that ends in –ing

Bv. koning - koninkie

vergadering – veranderinkie

tekening – tekeninkie

heining – heininkie

You just add –jie because the t or d is already there.

G = gogga (bug) K = koning (king)

A –g and a –k will never stand next to each other.

The koning kills the gogga – you just add kie.

Rule 9: when a word ends in an emphasised (stressed) vowel or if you have to make a letter or a number smaller.

Bv. ma – ma ‘tjie

pa – pa’tjie

taxi – taxi’tjie

skadu – skadu’tjie

Gr 8 – Gr 8 ‘tjie

A – A’tjie

20 – 20’tjie

REMEMBER THAT WHEN A QUESTION IS IN PLURAL YOUR ANSWER MUST ALSO BE IN PLURAL

Bv. honde – hondjies

bome – boompies

koppe - koppies

In a word where it ends with the vowel and its

stressed.. You use ‘tjie.

Remember plurals!

To make it plural just

add –s