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Articles as determiners
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The articles are the most frequently used determiners in Afrikaans, especially the definite articledie the. The indefinite article'n a(n), which developed from the numeraleen one, and the negative articlegeen no with the shortened form g'n are also frequently used. As other determiners, it follows the predeterminer (if there is one) and precedes the numerals and the adjective(s) (if there are any), which is followed by the noun and possibly then postmodifiers. A few uses of the articles are illustrated in (1). In (1a), we have the predeterminer al drie all three, then the definite article die, the adjective amptelike official, and the noun tale languages. In (1b), the first definite article is part of the predeterminer die helfte van the half of, while the second performs the function of determiner, followed by the noun skywe slices. In (1c), the indefinite article 'n is followed by the adjective redelike reasonable, and the noun toestand condition. The indefinite article in (1d) is followed by a noun with a PP complement, sin vir humor sense of humour. In (1e) the full negative article geen is followed by the noun betekenis meaning, and in (1f) the shortened negative article g'n is followed by the noun mens human in a frequently used collocation meaning 'nobody' or 'no single person'.

1
a. al drie die amptelike tale
all three the official languages
all three the official languages
VivA-KPO
b. die helfte van die skywe
the half of the slices
half of the slices
VivA-KPO
c. 'n redelike toestand
a reasonable condition
a reasonable condition
VivA-KPO
d. 'n sin vir humor
a sense of humour
a sense of humour
VivA-KPO
e. geen betekenis
no meaning
no meaning
VivA-KPO
f. g'n mens
no human
nobody
VivA-KPO
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More details regarding the three different articles of Afrikaans can be found by following the corresponding links:

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