daar word/is + ge-

Passive Without a Subject: Daar Word

Level 4

Daar word gesê dat hy baie ryk is. (It is said that he is very rich.) Daar is gisteraand lekker gedans. (There was some great dancing last night.)

How It Works

1. An activity with no subject. Verbs such as dans, werk, praat and rook often have no object, so their passive has no subject. Daar fills the empty slot:

  • Daar word hard gewerk. (People are working hard.)
  • Daar word nie in die gebou gerook nie. (There is no smoking in the building.)
  • Daar is gisteraand lekker gedans. (There was some great dancing last night.)

2. Present and past. Use word for now and is for the past, as in the passive with word and the past passive with is. Geword is not used in the passive.

3. Reporting with dat. Where English says it is said or it is expected, Afrikaans uses daar:

  • Daar word gesê dat hy baie ryk is. (It is said that he is very rich.)
  • Daar word verwag dat dit môre gaan reën. (It is expected to rain tomorrow.)

4. New things. When the thing is new information, with 'n, baie or a number, daar often comes first and the noun follows the verb: Daar word 'n nuwe skool in ons straat gebou. (A new school is being built in our street.) With die + noun you usually start with the noun: Die skool word gebou. Compare daar is for there is.

5. Word order. Daar comes first, word or is comes second, and the ge- form goes to the end. If another word comes first, daar follows the verb: Gisteraand is daar lekker gedans. In a question, the verb comes first: Word daar hier Engels gepraat? (Is English spoken here?)

Tip: With a modal, word still goes last: Daar moet meer gedoen word. (More must be done.) See the passive with a modal.

Examples (6)

  1. Daar word gesê dat hy baie ryk is.

    It is said that he is very rich.

    Word by Word: There is said that he very rich is.

  2. Daar is gisteraand lekker gedans.

    There was some great dancing last night.

    Word by Word: There is last night nicely danced.

    Is + ge- form puts the activity in the past.

  3. Daar word nie in die gebou gerook nie.

    There is no smoking in the building.

    Word by Word: There is not in the building smoked not.

  4. Daar word 'n nuwe skool in ons straat gebou.

    A new school is being built in our street.

    Word by Word: There is a new school in our street built.

    The new thing, 'n nuwe skool, comes after the verb.

  5. Word daar hier Engels gepraat?

    Is English spoken here?

    Word by Word: Is there here English spoken?

  6. Daar is lank oor die plan gepraat.

    The plan was discussed for a long time.

    Word by Word: There is long about the plan talked.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding geword to the past passive.

    Daar is gisteraand gedans geword.
    Daar is gisteraand gedans.

    The past passive is is + ge- form. Geword only means became, as in Hy het siek geword.

  • Leaving out daar in a statement.

    Word gesê dat hy ryk is.
    Daar word gesê dat hy ryk is.

    A statement needs something before the verb. Without daar, the sentence starts with the verb and does not work as a statement.

  • Putting the ge- form straight after word.

    Daar word gepraat baie Afrikaans hier.
    Daar word hier baie Afrikaans gepraat.

    The ge- form goes to the end of the clause, after everything else.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

daar word/is + ge-Level 4Passive Without a Subject: Daar Word

Learn This First

Daar word makes a passive sentence without a subject.

Words in This Pattern

daarwordge-