Making Tenses Easy in Afrikaans: Part 6 – "Could have" in Afrikaans (Sou)

  

By the end of this lesson, you will know how to use “sou” (the Afrikaans equivalent of “would have”). You will learn how to say that you could, want to or had to do something, but didn’t, in Afrikaans.

How to say would have: “Sou”

The word “sou” roughly means the same as “would have” in English. It means that you would have done something in the past if you had the opportunity.

 

“Sou” goes just after the subject in the sentence.

 

Example 1

I would have swum.

Ek sou swem.

 

In this example, I did not swim, but I would have swum if I could.

 

Example 2

I would have been there if I wasn’t tired.

Ek sou daar wees as ek nie moeg was nie.

 

I would have been there, but being tired prevented me from being there.

 

When do you get ‘’het’’ at the end of a sentence

The words “wou” (wanted to), “kon,” (could) and “moes” (had to) can be used to show that you wanted to, could or had to do something, but did not.

 

In order to show that you wanted to, could or had to do something, but did not, add a “ge” to the second verb in the sentence, followed by the word “het.”

 

Example 3

·       Jy moes daar wees.                 You had to be there.

·       Jy moes daar gewees het.   You had to be there, but you weren’t

·       Jy wou daar wees.                    You wanted to be there.

·       Jy wou daar gewees het.      You wanted to be there, but you weren’t.

·       Sy kon dit doen.                       She could do it.

·       Jy kon daar gewees het.       You could have been there, but you weren’t.

 

Example 4

·       Jy kon dit doen. →                     You could do it.

·       Jy kon dit gedoen het. →       You could have done it, but you didn’t.

·       Jy wou dit doen. →                    You wanted to do it.

·       Jy wou dit gedoen het. →      You wanted to do it, but you didn’t.

 

“Sou” with ‘’het’’ at the end of a sentence

You can optionally put a “ge” before the second verb and a “het” at the end of the sentence when using “sou,” but there would be no significant change in meaning if you do so.

 

Example 5

·       Ek kon daar wees                    I could have been there.

·       Ek kon daar gewees het.      I could have been there, but I wasn’t.

 

Example 6

·       Jy moes dit doen. →                 You would have done it.

·       Jy moes dit gedoen het. →   You would have done it, but you didn’t. 

Click here to go to the next lesson:

Making Tenses Easy in Afrikaans: Part 7 – The Alternative Meanings of 'Het' and 'Was'

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