Dialogue - Afrikaans

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Vocabulary (Review)

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lekker delicious
regtig really
dink to think
eiers eggs
goed well
nie not
wat that
middagete lunch
biefstuk steak

Lesson Notes

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Lesson Focus

The Focus of This Lesson is the Past Tense

Regtig! Ons het gister biefstuk gehad.
"Really! We had steak yesterday."

 

In this lesson, we will learn how to:

 

  1. use the past tense
  2. use the prefix "ge" and use "gehad"

1. How to use the past tense

 

Past tense is easy in Afrikaans—You need to identify the verb and add the prefix ge-, and you need to identify the person doing the action and add het after them in the sentence.

Person + het .... + ge- verb ...

Jan het gister vleis gehad. (Gehad is the conjugation of het)
"Jan had meat yesterday."

English

Afrikaans (present)

Afrikaans

(past)

think/thought

dink

gedink

eat/ate

eet

geëet

have/had

het

gehad

swim/swam

swem

geswem

read/read

lees

gelees

drive/drove

ry

gery

walk/walked

loop

geloop

sit/sat

sit

gesit

Sample sentences

  1. Ons het verlede jaar elke Sondag gestap.
    "Last year we went for walks every Sunday."
  2. Ek het vir drie jaar in my jeug geswem.
    "I swam for three years in my youth."
  3. Jan en Susan het laas jaar gedraf.
    "Jan and Susan jogged last year."

2. Use the prefix ge and use gehad

 

Ge indicates past tense. The moment you use it as a prefix to the verb, the verb is in past tense.

Het must also be used to indicate past tense.

Examples from the Dialogue

  1. Johan, het jy al gedink wat jy wil hê vir middagete?
    "John, have you thought about what you would like for lunch?"
  2. Regtig! Ons het gister biefstuk gehad.
    "Really! We had steak for lunch yesterday."

Sample Sentences

 

  1. Ek het verlede week elke dag gedraf.
    "I went for a jog every day last week."
  2. Ek was laas jaar in Spanje.
    "I was in Spain last year."
  3. Het jy gister gaan swem?
    "Did you go and swim yesterday?"

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

nog nie
"yet"

 

Nog nie indicates that you are "not yet" finished with something or that you did not do something. You are going to use this phrase when you will do a task, but you have not had a chance to do it.

It can be a bit informal, but if you add the reason afterward it will be more polite.

For example

  1. Ek het nog nie die man gebel nie.
    "I haven't phoned the guy yet."

goed so
"OK, then"

 

Goed so means that you like what you hear or that you agree. You can use this when someone makes a suggestion or when someone asks if you agree with details they discussed. It can be used in formal or informal settings.

For example

  1. Goed so, ons moet nog.
    "Good. We still have to."

Cultural Insights

Steak and Eggs as a Meal

 

You will find many restaurants offer steak and eggs as a meal, maybe even with chips. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Many South African people like going out for breakfast on a Sunday. You can get a farmer's breakfast with a variety of food on these days, and there are even a lot of vegetarian dishes.

Useful expression

  1. Ek soek 'n lekker boere ontbyt.
    "I want a delicious farmer's breakfast."
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Lesson Transcript

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INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome to AfrikaansPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1, Lesson 1 - Making Lunch Plans in South Africa. Becky here.
Chesney: Hallo! I'm Chesney.
Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about the past tense. The conversation takes place in a car.
Chesney: It's between Nadia and Johan.
Becky: The speakers are friends. Therefore, they’ll speak informal Afrikaans. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Nadia: Johan het jy al gedink wat jy wil hê vir middagete?
Johan: Nee, nog nie.
Nadia: Wat wil jy hê?
Johan: Ek wil 'n lekker biefstuk eet!
Nadia: Regtig! Ons het gister biefstuk gehad.
Johan: Ek wil biefstuk en eiers hê.
Nadia: Goed so, kom ons gaan eet lekker biefstuk.
Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Nadia: Johan het jy al gedink wat jy wil hê vir middagete?
Johan: Nee, nog nie.
Nadia: Wat wil jy hê?
Johan: Ek wil 'n lekker biefstuk eet!
Nadia: Regtig! Ons het gister biefstuk gehad.
Johan: Ek wil biefstuk en eiers hê.
Nadia: Goed so, kom ons gaan eet lekker biefstuk.
Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Nadia: Johan, have you thought about what you would like to eat for lunch?
Johan: No, not yet.
Nadia: What do you want?
Johan: I want to eat a delicious steak!
Nadia: Really! We had steak yesterday.
Johan: I want steak and eggs.
Nadia: Ok then, let's go eat a delicious steak.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Becky: Steak and eggs sounds good!
Chesney: It does, doesn’t it?
Becky: Is it a popular dish in South Africa?
Chesney: Yes, many restaurants serve it, sometimes with chips too.
Becky: Is it usually eaten for dinner?
Chesney: It can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Becky: It’s very versatile then, if you can even eat it for breakfast!
Chesney: Yes, it is. Speaking of breakfast, South Africans often like to eat out for breakfast on Sundays.
Becky: Why Sundays?
Chesney: Well, you can get a farmer’s breakfast with a variety of foods.
Becky: What if someone doesn’t like steak or doesn’t eat meat at all?
Chesney: There are lots of vegetarian dishes too.
Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is...
Chesney: middagete [natural native speed]
Becky: lunch
Chesney: middagete [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chesney: middagete [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Chesney: biefstuk [natural native speed]
Becky: steak
Chesney: biefstuk [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chesney: biefstuk [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Chesney: lekker [natural native speed]
Becky: delicious
Chesney: lekker [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chesney: lekker [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Chesney: regtig [natural native speed]
Becky: really
Chesney: regtig [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chesney: regtig [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Chesney: eiers [natural native speed]
Becky: eggs
Chesney: eiers [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chesney: eiers [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Chesney: goed [natural native speed]
Becky: well
Chesney: goed [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chesney: goed [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Chesney: dink [natural native speed]
Becky: to think
Chesney: dink [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chesney: dink [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have...
Chesney: wat [natural native speed]
Becky: that
Chesney: wat [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chesney: wat [natural native speed]
Becky: And lastly...
Chesney: nie [natural native speed]
Becky: not
Chesney: nie [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Chesney: nie [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is...
Chesney: nog nie
Becky: meaning "yet." How is this used, Chesney?
Chesney: You can use it when you say that you haven’t finished something or have yet to do something.
Becky: Is it an informal or formal expression?
Chesney: It’s informal, but if you add the reason after it then it becomes more polite.
Becky: Can you give us an example using this word?
Chesney: Sure. For example, you can say, Ek het nog nie die man gebel nie.
Becky: ...which means "I haven't phoned the guy yet."
Becky: Okay, what's the next word?
Chesney: goed so
Becky: meaning "OK, then." When can we use this phrase?
Chesney: You can use it when you hear something that you like or agree with.
Becky: So you can use it when someone makes a suggestion.
Chesney: Or if you’re asked whether you agree with some details.
Becky: Is it a formal or informal phrase?
Chesney: It can be used in both situations.
Becky: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Chesney: Sure. For example, you can say, Goed so, ons moet nog.
Becky: ...which means "Good. We still have to."
Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus
Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about the past tense.
Becky: We can use the past tense to talk about actions that have occurred in the past.
Chesney: Making the past tense in Afrikaans is easy, I think.
Becky: How do we make the past tense?
Chesney: First, you add the prefix ge to the verb.
Becky: Let’s look at some examples of that before we move on. What’s the present tense of “to eat?”
Chesney: eet. And the past tense is geëet.
Becky: Let’s hear another one. How about the verb “to read?”
Chesney: The present tense is lees, so the past tense is gelees.
Becky: Is that all there is to making the past tense?
Chesney: Not quite. You also have to add het after the person doing the action.
Becky: Can we have an example of that?
Chesney: For example, if the person doing the action is named Jan, we’d say Jan het....
Becky: Okay. Let’s hear some example sentences now.
Chesney: Ons het verlede jaar elke Sondag gestap.
Becky: “Last year we went for walks every Sunday.”
Chesney: Ek het vir drie jaar in my jeug geswem.
Becky: “I swam for three years in my youth.”
Chesney: Jan en Susan het laas jaar gedraf.
Becky: “Jan and Susan jogged last year.”
Chesney: So remember, ge as a prefix indicates past tense.
Becky: Whenever it’s with a verb, it changes the verb to past tense.
Chesney: And also, you must use het in past tense sentences.
Becky: Okay. Let’s end on one last example.
Chesney: Ek het verlede week elke dag gedraf.
Becky: “I went for a jog every day last week.”

Outro
Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Chesney: Baai.
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