The Infinitive in Afrikaans: om te – part 2 (Advanced)

📘 Who this is for: CAPS, IEB, Cambridge students (FAL and SAL Grades 7–12) and adult Afrikaans learners.

You should now understand the basics of infinitives in Afrikaans from doing the first lesson. Learn how to use infinitives in more advanced sentences with multiple verbs or infinitives in this lesson.

The infinitive in more complicated sentences in Afrikaans

Like English the infinitive ",om te" can sometimes be used in more complicated sentences where there are multiple infinitives or verbs.

If the sentence has multiple verbs

One thing to keep in mind is that "om te" can only connect to one verb in the sentence, just like with the English infinitives. This means that if there is another verb in the sentence it can not go between "om" and "te" like the other words that tell us more about the infinitive.

Words that tell us more about the other verb in the sentence also go along with that verb instead of the infinitive.

Examples

It is nice to eat red apples if you are hungry.

This sentence has two verbs, "eat" and "are." The word "eat" is connected to "to" and "red apples" tells us more about what is being eaten.

Dit is lekker om rooi apples te eet as jy honger is.

This sentence also contains two verbs, "eet" and "is." The words "rooi apples" sits between "om" and "te" because it tells us more about the infinitive (what is being eaten). 

However " as jy honger is" goes after "eet" because "is" is a verb of its own. The words "as jy honger" tells us about the verb, "is" so it goes after the verb "eet."

If the sentence has multiple infinitives

Remember that the infinitive can only connect to one verb in the sentence. So when a sentence has multiple infinitives they need to sit next to each other. If there are words that tell us more about the infinitive they go between the "om" and "te" of their infinitive just like they do if there was only one in the sentence.

Example

I like to draw pictures to show to my grandfather.

In this sentence there are two infinitives "to draw" and "to show."

Ek hou daarvan om prentjies te teken om vir my oupa te wys.

In this sentence the infinitives are "om te teken" and "om te wys." The extra information about the action in each of these infinitives goes between "om" and "te" in each of these infinitives. "Prentjies" tells us more about what is being drawn and "vir my oupa" tells us more about who you want to show it to.

Alternative English-Like Infinitive Sentence Structure

Infinitives can also use a word order that is more similar to English. You can use this if you are struggling, because it will still make sense and is grammatically correct. However it is not the commonly used way of using "om te" in Afrikaans and Afrikaans speakers may see it as a bit unnatural.

Instead of putting the extra information about the infinitive between "om" and "te" you can also put it after the verb like you do in English.

Example

Dit is lekker om te speel in die park.

The extra information in this sentence (in die park) goes after the verb.

Dit is lekker om in die park te speel.

Although the previous sentence is grammatically correct, this is the more natural way of saying it for most Afrikaans speakers.

Click the following link to go to the next lesson:      

The infinitive in Afrikaans: om te – part 3 (when not ot use om te)

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References.

Lutrin, B. (1999). Afrikaans handbook & study guide: An English student’s guide to Afrikaans. Sandton: Berlut Books.

de Jonge, A. (n.d.). Leer Afrikaans sonder om jou rieme styf te loop. Graffiti Boeke.

De Klerk, P. F., Esterhuizen, B. J., Hammann, H. J. R., & Neethling, E. L. (1986). Afrikaans my taal. Maskew Miller Longman.

Nel, M. (2019). Afrikaans+: Everything you need to obtain top marks. LAPA Uitgewers.

The majority of this course content is based on the author’s experience, practice, and self-study.

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