Making Tenses Easy in Afrikaans: Part 8 – Verbs without "Ge" in the past tense

 

Learn which Afrikaans verbs skip the ‘ge-’ prefix in the past tense, and why, with clear rules and examples.

When do you add " ge " in the past tense

Not all verbs get a “ge” in the past tense. Verbs in the past tense generally do not get a “ge” at the start of the word if the word already has a prefix. A prefix is something added to the start of a word that modifies its meaning slightly.

 

Here are some of the most common prefixes in Afrikaans: Be, ge, her, er, ver, ont, mis

Present tense	Past tense
Ek belowe jou.	Ek het jou belowe.
Ons gesels lekker.	Ons het lekker gesels.
Sy herstel nog van die siekte.	Sy het nog van die siekte herstel.
Jy erken dit.	Jy het dit erken.
Ek verkoop my kar.	Ek het my kar verkoop.
Ons ontmoet mekaar langs die trein.	Ons het mekaar langs die trein ontmoet.
Hy misgis hom.	Hy het hom misgis.

 

Some of the most common prefixes with examples.

Prefix	Rough meaning/ function	Examples
be-	often has the idea of making or doing something to something/someone	betaal – pay belowe – promise
ge-	is often part of the original word and doesn't have a separate meaning anymore	gebruik – use geniet – enjoy
her-	again / re-	herhaal – repeat herbou – rebuild
er-	often relates to acquiring, experiencing, or bringing about something	erken – acknowledge/ admit ervaar – experience
ver-	often indicates change, transformation, movement, or bringing about a result	verander – change verkoop – sell
ont-	often indicates removal, separation, reversal	ontdek – discover ontmoet – meet
mis-	wrongly / incorrectly	misverstaan – misunderstand mislei – mislead

 

Click here to go to the next lesson:

Making Tenses Easy in Afrikaans: Part 9 – "Ge'" inside verbs in the past tense

Visit our website for our free tutorials index, premium courses or private Afrikaans tutoring.

Subscribe for updates on Owl's Bilingual Academy.