Past Tense - Verlede Tyd
Past Tense in Afrikaans (Verlede Tyd)
There are only a few rules which you have to do to change a sentence to past tense in Afrikaans. At the top of this page are the principles, at the bottom are the verbs that change in Afrikaans and click here if you want to know how to use past tense with a conjunction. If you want to know how to use past tense when starting with a time word (eg. verlede jaar) click here.
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Rules
1. The "het" and the "ge"
This is the first and simplest rule in verlede tyd. This rule says that you must replace your first verb in your sentence with "het" and take it to the back of the sentence with "ge" added to it.
Eg. Johan skop die bal. -> Johan het die bal geskop.
There are a few exceptions to this rule, however.
- If the verb that you are replacing has a prefix you must not add "ge". You must still move it to the end and put "het" in though.
Eg. Die wedstryd begin -> Die wedstryd het begin
- If the verb that you are replacing is a verb that changes in the past tense do not use this rule and use rule 2
- If the verb that your are replacing is "het" use rule 3
2. The changing verbs
These are very simple and are easy to get marks off. Before you do this rule you must first make sure it is applicable to your sentence (i.e., check that the verb is one that changes) if it is not applicable then use rule 1 or rule 3 depending on the sentence. If the sentence is applicable youonly change the verb and leave therest of the sentence the same. Here is a list of the changing verbs
Sal - Sou
Is - Was
Kan - Kon
Moet - Moes
Mag - Mog
Wil - Wou
Eg. Johan is by die skool. -> Johan was by die skool.
3. The "gehad"
This is the rule you use when there is a "het" already present in the sentence. All you have to do here is leave the sentence the same and add "gehad" to the end of the sentence.
Eg. Johan het 'n bal-> Johan het 'n bal gehad
4. With two verbs
There are three ways you can change a sentence to past tense that has two verbs. Here they are listed below. As the bullet points go down, the explanation goes further. The second bullet point is the past tense version.
Die seun was en stryk sy klere.
Die seun het sy klere gewas en gestryk
No simultaneous actions - both verbs get ge
Die seen praat en speel saam met sy vriende.
Die seun saam met sy vriende gepraat en speel
Simultaneous actions - only the first verb gets ge
Ek hoor die klok lui.
Ek het die klok hoor lui.
There is no conjunction so you don't add prefixes.
5. If there is a preposition + verb.
We join the two words together.
Ek tel die bal op.
Ek het die bal opgetel.
6. Gaan, laat, kom, hoor, voel, sien.
When you see those helping words, you mustn't put "ge". The helping verb goes to the end, before the final verb. We only do this when there are two verbs in the sentence.
Connor laat my sy kar ry.
Connor het my sy kar laat ry.
7. Dan, as, wanneer, nou
Changes to "toe"
Ek is nou moeg.
Ek was toe moeg.
8. Skeibare woorde
When we see skeibare (separated) words, we treat the word as if it had two parts. We can recognise a skeibare word by checking if it has a preposition at the beginning or if the word has an emphasis on the beginning.
Ek skakel die lig aan.
Ek het die lig aangeskakel.