Intensive Compounds: yskoud, doodmoeg
Yskoud, Doodmoeg: Intensive Compounds
Join a word to an adjective to make it much stronger, and write it as one word: yskoud (ice-cold), doodmoeg (dead tired).
How It Works
1. Common pairs. Each adjective has its usual booster:
- koud → yskoud (ice-cold)
- moeg → doodmoeg (dead tired)
- nuut → splinternuut (brand-new)
- donker → pikdonker or stikdonker (pitch-dark)
- stil → stokstil (completely still)
- nat → sopnat (soaking wet)
- droog → kurkdroog (bone-dry)
- duur → peperduur (very expensive)
- oud → stokoud (very old)
2. Dood- is the busiest booster. It appears in doodmoeg, doodgewoon (perfectly ordinary) and doodernstig (dead serious). Most other boosters belong to one or two adjectives: ys- goes with koud, and kurk- with droog. Use the pairs you know rather than inventing new ones.
3. One word. Always write the compound as one word, like other compounds: yskoud, not ys koud.
4. Before a noun. The last part follows the normal rules of adjective + -e and adjective sound changes: 'n yskoue drankie (an ice-cold drink), 'n splinternuwe fiets (a brand-new bike). Where the plain adjective takes no -e, neither does the compound: 'n pikdonker nag (a pitch-dark night).
5. Already very. These words already mean very, so they do not need baie in front of them.
Examples (6)
- Die water is yskoud!
The water is ice-cold!
Word by Word: The water is ice-cold!
- Na die lang dag is ek doodmoeg.
After the long day I'm dead tired.
Word by Word: After the long day am I dead-tired.
- Hy ry 'n splinternuwe bakkie.
He drives a brand-new pickup.
Word by Word: He drives a splinter-new pickup.
Before a noun, nuut becomes nuwe, so splinternuut becomes splinternuwe.
- Buite was dit pikdonker.
Outside it was pitch-dark.
Word by Word: Outside was it pitch-dark.
- Die kinders het stokstil gestaan.
The children stood completely still.
Word by Word: The children have stick-still stood.
- Ek het in die reën gestap en nou is ek sopnat.
I walked in the rain and now I'm soaking wet.
Word by Word: I have in the rain walked and now am I soup-wet.
Common Mistakes
Writing the compound as two words.
Die water is ys koud.Die water is yskoud.An intensive compound is one word, just like a compound noun.
Forgetting the ending before a noun.
Hy ry 'n splinternuut bakkie.Hy ry 'n splinternuwe bakkie.The compound takes the same ending as its last part. Nuut becomes nuwe before a noun, so splinternuut becomes splinternuwe.
How It Connects
Learn This First
A fixed booster and adjective form one word whose adjective ending may change its sounds.
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
Practice Intensive Compounds: yskoud, doodmoeg in Bubblegum
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