If there’s one thing that stresses new learners when they start to learn Afrikaans, it’s the double negative.

In English, your teacher probably told you that using a double negative is bad grammar. You can’t say, “I don’t know nothing,” because that logically means you do know something.

But in Afrikaans, the double negative is not only correct - it’s required.

It’s the most distinctive feature of the language. If you leave out the second part of the negative, your sentence will sound incomplete to a native speaker.

The good news? It’s actually very logical once you get used to it. Think of it like a pair of bookends holding your sentence together.

Here’s a simple guide to mastering the nie… nie structure.

The basic rule: the two nies

In Standard Afrikaans, to make a sentence negative, you usually need two words.

The word for “not” is nie.

The general formula looks like this:

Subject + Verb + nie + (rest of sentence) + nie.

1. The first nie: This comes after the verb. It tells the listener, “Hey, this sentence is negative!”
2. The second nie: This goes at the very end of the sentence. It acts like a full stop (period). It closes the negative thought.

Think of it like a hamburger. The two nies are the buns, and the rest of the information is the patty and lettuce in the middle.

Here are examples of how this looks in practice:

Notice that no matter how long the sentence gets, that second nie always waits until the very end.

When to use only one nie

Sometimes, beginners get confused because they hear short phrases that only have one nie.

Does every single negative sentence need two? Not always.

You only use one nie if the first nie would logically be the last word of the sentence anyway.

We don’t stack them right next to each other (nie nie). If the sentence is simple and short (Subject + Verb), you just use one.

However, look what happens when we add more information to those sentences. As soon as you add an object or a time, the second nie appears at the end.

Using negative words (words that replace the first nie)

Afrikaans has a specific set of words that are already negative by nature.

These are words like “never,” “nothing,” or “nobody.”

The Golden Rule: If you use one of these special negative words, they replace the first nie. However, you still need the second nie at the end of the sentence to close it off.

Here is a list of common negative words and their positive opposites:

Let’s look at how these work in sentences. Notice how the first nie disappears because niemand or nooit is doing the job of negating the verb.

How to say “don’t” (imperatives)

When you want to give a command, like telling a child “Don’t touch that!” or “Don’t go!”, Afrikaans uses the word Moenie.

Moenie is actually a contraction of moet nie (must not).

Because Moenie contains a negative (the nie part), it acts as the start of your negative sandwich. You still need to place a final nie at the end of the command.

Tip: In spoken, informal Afrikaans (and in regional dialects like Cape Afrikaans), you might hear people shorten Moenie to just Moetie. However, when writing, stick to Moenie.

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The double negative might seem strange at first, but it’s actually one of the most consistent rules in Afrikaans grammar. It helps give the language its unique rhythm.

Here is the quick checklist to remember:

1. Most sentences need two nies. One after the verb, one at the end.
2. If the sentence is very short (Subject + Verb), you only use one.
3. Words like nooit (never) or niemand (nobody) replace the first nie, but you keep the last one.
4. Commands start with Moenie and end with nie.

It takes a little practice to remember that final nie, but don’t worry - even if you forget it, people will still understand you.