y and ei

Level 1

The letters y and ei stand for the same sound. It starts with a short uh and glides toward ee, close to the a in English day: my, klein.

How It Works

In Afrikaans, y is a vowel. It never sounds like the y in English yes; that sound is written with j: ja (yes).

The sound of y and ei starts like the uh in about and glides up toward ee. Afrikaans my sounds close to English may, not English my.

  • With y: my (my, me), jy (you), hy (he), sy (she), wyn (wine), tyd (time), ryk (rich).
  • With ei: klein (small), eier (egg), reis (travel, journey), trein (train).

Many common pronouns are spelled with y: jy, hy, sy. See ek/jy/hy/sy/dit.

A few pairs sound exactly the same, and only the spelling shows the meaning: lei (to lead) and ly (to suffer), wei (to graze) and wy (to dedicate).

If you know Dutch: Dutch ij is written y in Afrikaans, as in tijd → tyd. Afrikaans never uses ij.

Examples (5)

  1. My trein is laat.

    My train is late.

    My is spelled with y and trein with ei, but they have the same vowel sound.

  2. Sy koop eiers en wyn.

    She is buying eggs and wine.

    Word by Word: She buys eggs and wine.

    Sy and wyn are spelled with y, and eiers with ei.

  3. Hy is ryk, maar hy het nie tyd nie.

    He is rich, but he has no time.

    Word by Word: He is rich, but he has not time not.

    Hy, ryk and tyd are all spelled with y.

  4. Die kat is klein.

    The cat is small.

    Klein has the same sound, spelled ei.

  5. Ons reis môre Kaapstad toe.

    We are travelling to Cape Town tomorrow.

    Word by Word: We travel tomorrow Cape Town to.

    Reis is spelled with ei.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Dutch spelling ij.

    Hij is rijk.
    Hy is ryk.

    Afrikaans never writes ij. Where Dutch has ij, Afrikaans writes y.

  • Mixing up y and ei in a word.

    Die kat is klyn.
    Die kat is klein.

    Y and ei sound the same, so learn each word together with its spelling.

How It Connects

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

y and eiLevel 1

Learn This First

Y and ei spell the same sound, which only makes sense once the alphabet is familiar.