Negative Form (Ontkenning)

 

Text Breakdown

There is one basic rule in negative form for Afrikaans, there are many variations of the rule but it is the same concept. The rule works like this...

You identify the first verb of the sentence then you put a "nie"after it. You then add a "nie" to the end of the sentence. You can remember this rule by knowing that you have two knees. 

Eg. Peter het 'n bal. -> Peter het nie 'n bal nie.

This is the basic setup for negative form. There are words that change when you want to change a sentence to negative, at the bottom is a list of the words that change. When you see a positive word that is in the list in a sentence you do the following...

Step 1: Change the verb that is changeable and DO NOT ADD NIE AFTER IT

Eg. Daar is iets in die kamer  ->  Daar is niks in die kamer 

Step 2: Add the second "nie" at the end.

Eg.  Daar is niks in die kamer nie.

How to answer a sentence with negative

To answer a sentence in negative is very simple. All you have to do is remember a few things...

1. Change the pronouns

2. Always start with "Nee..."

3. Continue the sentence as normal after the "nee"

Here is an example of this

Is daar iets in die kamer?  -> Daar is niks in die kamer nie.

 

How to change an instruction/request to negative 

 

A command/request is something we use everyday and it is important to know how to change it to a negative command. 

To change the command/request to negative, you have to do three things -

  1. Add “moenie” to the front of the sentence
  2. Move the verb to the end
  3. Add “nie” as you usually would to the end

However, if the sentence has “asseblief” you have to do the following - 

  1. Moenie changes to “moet…nie”
  2. Put asseblief between the “moet” and “nie”
  3. Add “nie” to the end of the sentence as normal

 

Examples:

Staan op! -> Moenie staan op nie!

Koop asseblief hierdie kos vir my? -> Moet asseblief nie hierdie kos vir my koop nie.

 

Here is a list of the Verbs that change.