Basic Afrikaans words for beginners

– Essential words to know –

Learn the essentials of Afrikaans easily with this vocabulary list that contains all the most basic words used in Afrikaans, with their english translations. If you’re a beginner, it will come in handy to review or learn Afrikaans by yourself before traveling, or if you want to enrich and improve your Afrikaans vocabulary to better express yourself in writing and speaking!

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ENGLISH	AFRIKAANS
Please	Asseblief
Thank you!	Dankie!
Sorry!	Jammer!
What?	Wat?
Who?	WHO?
When?	Wanneer?
Why?	Hoekom?
Which?	Watter?
How?	Hoe?
Where ?	Waar ?
How much ?	Hoeveel ?
Yes	Ja
No	Geen
Maybe	Kan wees
Of course	Natuurlik
something	iets
nothing	niks
somebody	iemand
nobody	niemand nie
before	voor
after	na
far	ver
near	naby
here	hier
there	daar
today	vandag
tomoorow	môre
now	nou
man	man
woman	vrou
friend	vriend
more	meer
less	minder
always	altyd
later	later
never	nooit
same	dieselfde
different	anders
small	klein
large	groot
difficult	moeilik
easy	maklik
hot	warm
cold	koud
yesterday	gister
after	na
beautiful	pragtige
broken	stukkend
free	vry
a pharmacy	n apteek
money	geld
a bag	n sak
a lighter	n aansteker
a cigarette	n sigaret
a bottle	n bottel
soap	seep
clean	skoon
dirty	vuil
a trash can	n asblik
a trash bag	n vullissak
the silence	die stilte
a tool	n hulpmiddel
pregnant	swanger
sick	siek
a baby	n baba
a little bit	n bietjie
a doctor	n dokter
a dentist	n tandarts
a medicine	n medisyne
a book	n boek
a story	n storie
a phone	n foon
a computer	n rekenaar
a car	n motor
a plane	n vliegtuig
the name	die naam
the adress	die adres
the age	die ouderdom
the nationality	die nasionaliteit
a choice	n keuse
an answer	n antwoord
the key	die sleutel
the light	die lig
the television	die televisie
the bed	die bed
the house	die huis
the shower	die stort
the window	die venster
the door	die deur
the table	die tafel
tired	moeg
water	water
open	oopmaak
closed	gesluit
clothes	klere
coffee	koffie
tea	tee
lunch	middagete
dinner	aandete
a fruit	n vrug
a vegetable	n groente
a beverage	n drankie
a child	n kind
rain	reën
the entrance	die ingang
the exit	die uitgang
music	musiek
a smile	n glimlag
the world	die wereld
the sky	die lug
a river	n rivier
the sea	die see
the mountain	die berg
the lake	Die meer
the island	die eiland
the beach	die strand

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