Afrikaans Conjunctions And Group Rules Explained Simply
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Afrikaans conjunctions dictate how the rest of your sentence is structured.
Learning these connecting words is essential for speaking and writing fluently.
In Afrikaans, we call conjunctions voegwoorde.
Every conjunction belongs to one of three specific groups.
Each group has a unique rule for where the verb goes in the sentence.
I’ll explain exactly how these three groups work so you can build perfect Afrikaans sentences.
Table of Contents:
Group 1 conjunctions (no word order change)
Group 1 conjunctions are the easiest to use in Afrikaans.
They don’t change the word order of your sentence at all.
You simply place the conjunction directly between the two phrases you want to connect.
Everything else stays in the exact same place.
Here are the most common Group 1 conjunctions:
| Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|
| en | and |
| maar | but |
| of | or |
| want | because |
| dog | yet |
Here are a few examples of how to use Group 1 conjunctions in a sentence.
Notice how the sentence structure on both sides of the conjunction stays normal.
Ek eet ‘n appel en ek drink water.
Hy is moeg, maar hy moet werk.
Ek gaan slaap, want ek is moeg.
Group 2 conjunctions (verb moves to the middle)
Group 2 conjunctions act a little differently.
When you use a Group 2 word, the verb in the second part of the sentence must move.
The verb moves to sit immediately after the conjunction.
This means your structure will look like this: Conjunction + Verb + Subject.
Here are the most common Group 2 conjunctions:
| Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|
| daarom | therefore |
| dus | therefore / thus |
| dan | then |
| daarna | after that |
| nietemin | nevertheless |
Let’s look at a few examples to see how the verb jumps to the middle of the sentence.
Ek is honger, daarom eet ek ‘n appel.
Ons speel buite, dan gaan ons huis toe.
Sy leer hard, dus kry sy goeie punte.
Group 3 conjunctions (verb moves to the end)
Group 3 conjunctions follow a very specific pattern.
When you use a Group 3 conjunction, the verb in the second sentence gets pushed to the very end.
You’ll place all of your other words first, and finish the sentence with the action word.
Here are the most common Group 3 conjunctions:
| Afrikaans | English |
|---|---|
| dat | that |
| omdat | because |
| as | if |
| wanneer | when |
| terwyl | while |
| sodat | so that |
Let’s see how Group 3 conjunctions push the verb all the way to the end of the sentence.
Ek eet ‘n appel omdat ek honger is.
Hy lees ‘n boek terwyl hy wag.
Ons sal vertrek wanneer die son skyn.
You might notice that want (Group 1) and omdat (Group 3) both mean “because”.
You can choose to use either one in your speech.
Just remember that choosing want keeps the word order normal, while omdat pushes the verb to the end.
