Dialogue

Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In the previous lesson, we introduced you to some phrases you can use when in South Africa and this is the last lesson of the series we’ve dedicated to learning from people around you. In this lesson, we are going to cover, "How do you read this?"
BODY
In Afrikaans, "How do you read this?" is Hoe lees jy dit? Let's break it down by syllable. (slow) Hoe lees jy dit?
Let's hear it once again. Hoe lees jy dit?
The first word hoe, means, "how."
(slow) hoe
hoe
Next, we have the verb lees, which in English means, "to read."
(slow) lees
lees
Finally, we have jy and dit, meaning, "you" and "this."
(slow) jy dit
jy dit
So all together, we have Hoe lees jy dit? which means “How do you read this?"
If you are pointing at something, probably at a book, a newspaper, or simply a street sign, you might also like to ask, "How do you pronounce this?" In Afrikaans, this is…
Hoe spreek jy dit uit?
(slow) Hoe spreek jy dit uit?
Hoe spreek jy dit uit?
This sentence is almost identical to the one we just introduced. The only difference is that we have uitspreek which means “to pronounce”, instead of lees which means “to read.”
Listen to the whole sentence once again. Hoe spreek jy dit uit? “How do you pronounce this?"
After you have learned the reading and the pronunciation, you will probably want to know about the meaning. So why don't you try to ask, Wat beteken dit? which means ”What does it mean?"
(slow) Wat beteken dit?
Wat beteken dit?
The first word wat, means, "what."
(slow) wat
wat
Next, we have the verb beteken, which in English means, “to mean.”
(slow) beteken
beteken
The last component, dit, means, "it.” This pronoun can be replaced by dat meaning ”that.”
(slow) dit
dit
To recap, let's repeat the whole sentence. Wat beteken dit? "What does it mean?"

Comments

Hide