1. Types of words – Woordsoorte
Die selfstandige naamwoord (s.nw.) = the noun
Meervoude = plurals , verkleinwoorde = diminunitives

2. S.NW – selfstandige naamwoord = the noun
What is a noun?
Anything you can see touch or feel – common noun
**** this is a selfstandige naamwoord in Afrikaans ****
A name of a person/place – proper noun
**** this is a Eienaam in Afrikaans ****
A feeling – abstract noun
**** this is a Abstrakte s.nw. in Afrikaans****
A group of things – collective nouns
**** this is a Versamelnaam in Afrikaans****

3. What can I do with S.NW.? There are two ways of asking about s.nw.
Meervoude – Plurals
Verkleinwoorde – Diminutives

4. Meervoude – Plurals
In the question look for the word meervoud or baie or meer as een.
Meervoude can be made by adding the following:
e , s , ers, hede , ens, te
There are different rules to follow by looking at the structure of the word.
Always pay attention to the length of the word( the syllables) and the vowels.

5. Rule 1 : short words with just one vowel
** remember the vowels are the gansters of the alphabet world! Here there is only one ganster and he doesn’t like being alone. So he calls his fans and his friends ( entourage) to come and help him.
Bv. man – there is one lonely ganster
manne – We double the last letter of the word so the gangster has his friends with him
Bv. kat – katte , mat – matte , ster – sterre, vis – visse

6. Rule 2: twin vowels – now I have two identical gangsters, they look the same and they sound the same. A gangster doesn’t want to be copied and the first born is the strongest. These vowels have a fight and the first born kicks the second over the consenant and he changes form – into a e.
Bv maan – do you see the two identical gansters?
mane – the first gangster kicks the second over the consenant and he changes to an e.

7. Do you see I just added an e ?
Rule 3: words with double vowels – double vowels mean two different vowels together.
Bv. dier - diere
voet – voete
huis – huise
Do you see I just added an e ?
Mixed vowels = + -e

8. Rule 4: double consenants
Bv. Vark - varke
dorp – dorpe
present – presente
Do you see I just added an e?
Rule = double consenants + e

9. Do you see I just added an –s to all of these words?
Rule 5: Words ending in –ing , words with more than one syllable ending in an –r and words that end –ie , words that end in a vowel but the stress of the word is on another part of the word:
Bv. koning – konings
ond/er/wys/er – onderwysers
boompie – boompies
ouma - oumas
Do you see I just added an –s to all of these words?

10. Rule 6: words ending in - ig just add –te - bv. gesig - gesigte
lig - ligte
Rule 7: words ending in – ag just dropp the g and and e
- bv. vraag – vrae
dag – dae
Rule 8: words ending in – heid becomes – hede
bv. besigheid – besighede
Moeilikheid – moeilikhede

11. One ganster therefore double the -w
REMEMBER WORDS ENDING ON A –F ARE ALWAYS TROUBLE… JUST LIKE THAT F WORD Rule 9: word with a short vowel ending in a F Bv. gif – giwwe stof – stowwe straf – strawwe Rule 10: word with a twin vowel or a mixed vowel ending in a F Bv. Stoof – stowe slaaf – slawe duif -duiwe verf –verwe
One ganster therefore double the -w
2 gansters so only one –w

12. Rule 11: words ending in –og
Bv. oorlog - oorloë
oog - oë
elmboog - elmboë
Rule 12: words that get a ë
Bv. vlieg - vlieë
ploeg - ploeë
knieg - knieë
Words get a –ë; if there are two of the same vowels ( 2 gangsters one cancels the other)
The – g turns into a - ë

13. If the stress is on the last vowel use an ‘s
Words ending in a vowel – where the stress ( emphasis) on the vowels.
Bv. ma – ma’s
pa – pa ‘s
taxi – taxi ‘s
skadu – skadu ‘s
Words ending on – uig
bv. vliegtuig - vliegtuie
voertuig - voertuie
vaartuig - vaartuie
If the stress is on the last vowel use an ‘s
The g is cancelled and replaced by an –e

14. Verkleinlwoorde dimunitives
The clue is in the word verkleinwoorde – klein = to make something smaller.
In the question look for words like klein, oulike, kort and so on. If you say klein before the word it might help you to “feel” it.
Verkleinwoorde can be made by adding the following:
ie, - tjie, - jie, - kie, -pie, -etjie
There are different rules to follow by looking at the structure of the word.
Always pay attention to the length of the word( the syllables) and the vowels

15. Rule 1: short vowel word that ends on a –k,-p,-g, and –s
Bv. kas - kassie
bek - bekkie
rug – ruggie
kop - koppie
Rule 2: words that have twin vowels
Bv. aap – apie
rook – rokie
neef – nefie
One vowel means you have one lonely gangster – so you double the last letter of the word and add –ie.
Twin vowels means you have two of the same gangster – so one gangster kills the other one and you add – ie.

16. Rule 3: if you have a word with a double consonant or a mixed vowel
Bv. neus – neusie
broek – broekie
vurk – vurkie
Rule 4: word ending with an –m
Bv. boom – boompie
stroom –stroompie
arm –armpie
skelm – skelmpie
bruidegom – bruidegompie
If you have a mixed vowel or two or more consonants add –ie
Any word ending in an –m you just add –pie

17. Do you see that I just added a –tjie to all these words?
Rule 5 : words with long vowels that end on a –n, words with double vowels and more than one syllable ending in -r and – l and – ie
Bv. Boon – boontjie
tuin – tuintjie
skoen – skoentjie
stoel – stoeltjie
ta/fel – tafeltjie
ron/da/wel – rondaweltjie
vloer – vloertjie
ven/ster – venstertjie
sus/ter – sustertjie
mandjie – mandjietjie
vakansie – vakansietjie
Meisie – meisietjie
Do you see that I just added a –tjie to all these words?

18. If
the
word has only one vowel – that means one lonely gangster doubles the last letter of the word, if no lonely gangster then you just add- etjie .
Rule 6: words with short vowels ending in –n, -m, -r, -l and a –ing
Bv. kam - kammetjie
som – sommetjie
kar – karretjie
ster – sterretjie
man – mannetjie
son – sonnetjie
bal – balletjie
rol – rolletjie
ring – ringetjie
slang – slangetjie
long - longetjie

19. You just add –jie because the t or d is already there.
Rule 7: if your word already ends in a –d or a –t
Bv. hond – hondjie
kat – katjie
mond – mondjie
boot – bootjie
Rule 8: if you have a word with 2 or 3 syllables that ends in –ing
Bv. koning - koninkie
vergadering – veranderinkie
tekening – tekeninkie
heining – heininkie
You just add –jie because the t or d is already there.
G = gogga (bug)
K = koning (king)
A –g and a –k will never stand next to each other. The koning kills the gogga – you just add kie.

20. To make it plural just add –s
Rule 9: when a word ends in an emphasised (stressed) vowel or if you have to make a letter or a number smaller.
Bv. ma – ma ‘tjie
pa – pa’tjie
taxi – taxi’tjie
skadu – skadu’tjie
Gr 8 – Gr 8 ‘tjie
A – A’tjie
20 – 20’tjie
REMEMBER THAT WHEN A QUESTION IS IN PLURAL YOUR ANSWER MUST ALSO BE IN PLURAL
Bv. honde – hondjies
bome – boompies
koppe - koppies
In a word where it ends with the vowel and its stressed.. You use ‘tjie.
Remember plurals!
To make it plural just add –s