Basic Afrikaans for Beginners
Looking for somewhere to kick off your basic Afrikaans learning? You've come to the right place!
Below you'll find 25 beginner translations to help you better communicate in Afrikaans. Includes phrases like "please", "thank you", and "you're welcome", plus, "what is your name?" and "do you speak Afrikaans?"
Note: Words in bold added during the last update. You can also view this list of phrases from Afrikaans to English.
Beginner's Phrases (English to Afrikaans):
Yes and No
Yes ➔ Ja
No ➔ Nee
Maybe ➔ Miskien
Please and Thank you
Please ➔ Asseblief
Thank you. ➔ Dankie.
Thank you very much. ➔ Baie dankie.
You're welcome. ➔ Jy is welkom.
You're very welcome. ➔ Jy is baie welkom.
How Are You?
How are you? ➔ Hoe gaan dit?
I'm fine. ➔ Ek gaan goed.
I'm okay. ➔ Ek is oke.
Fine, and you? ➔ Goed, en met jou?
What is Your Name?
What is your name? ➔ Wat is jou naam?
My name is (name). ➔ My naam is (name).
Her name is (name). ➔ Haar naam is (name).
Do You Speak English?
I don't understand you. ➔ Ek verstaan jou nie.
Can you speak slowly? ➔ Kan jy langsaam praat?
Do you speak English? ➔ Praat jy Engels?
Can you speak Afrikaans? ➔ Kan jy afrikaans praat?
My Afrikaans is bad. ➔ My Afrikaans is sleg.
Other Useful Questions and Phrases:
How old are you? ➔ Hoe oud is jy?
I don't know. ➔ Ek weet nie.
I come from... ➔ Ek kom uit...
What is the time? ➔ Hoe laat is dit?
Where is the bathroom? ➔ Waar is die badkamer?
*Basic word list last updated: March 14, 2018.
Next Up
Numbers: Learn how to say numbers in Afrikaans.
Perhaps you want to learn common words and phrases in these other languages?
Afrikaans, Arabic, Bengali, Bosnian, Dutch, Filipino, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Lithuanian, Malay, Mandarin, Maori, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Somali, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.