Does English have verb classes, like French’s conjugations?
Yes, and I disagree that it is as simple as ‘regular’ and ‘irregular’ or ‘strong’ and ‘weak.’ English has some organisation within the irregular verbs—they are not all random, and many English weak verbs are also still irregular in their own way.English has many Category:German class 1 strong verbs:drive~drove~drivenforbid~forbade~forbiddenrise~rose~risensmite~smote~smittenwrite~wrote~writtendive~dovestrive~strove~strivenshine~shonebite~bit~bittenslide~slidstrike~struck~strickenFor example, English also has many of the Category:German class 3 strong verbs:sing~sang~sungspring~sprang~sprungspin~span~spunsink~sank~sunkdrink~drank~drunkbegin~began~begunstink~stank~stunkfling~flang/flung~flungswim~swam~swum/swamwin~wonIt also has a subcategory of them, due to the Great Vowel Shift:bind~boundfind~foundgrind~groundIn Old English, these would have had past tenses exactly like the class 3 ones above.Funnily, English also has a set of formerly-weak Germanic verbs that now form their own class due to the Great Vowel Shift. These verbs all have a tense vowel in the present, but a lax one in the past:creep~creptsleep~sleptsweep~sweptdream~dreamtlean~leantfeel~feltflee~fledlead~ledread~readhear~heardsay~saidSo yes, English has classes of verbs too. Language teachers just don’t often teach them, or even know they exist.
How do Dutch speakers perceive Afrikaans?
Just some private impressions. I grew up as a Dutch boy in the Congo, then a Belgian colony. We occasionally passed holidays in the Transvaal and in ‘die Boland' (the winelands near Cape Town). I took to playing with Afrikaans speaking boys and reading their books. I kept reading those along with the Dutch books sent over from Flanders and Holland. One that I fondly remember is 'Fanie se veldskooldae' by P. Schoeman. Some Afrikaans words and expressions blended in with the Dutch I spoke with my family. My boyhood nickname, used until today by all relatives of my generation and that of my parents, is Boet (Afrikaans for little brother). After age 8, I was schooled in Antwerp, and I passed on stories from S.A. to my classmates, particularly to my chums of the school’s Boy Scout group. As a patrol leader I helped a friend opt for ‘Waakzame Springbok’ (Vigilant Springbok) as a totem. I always kept in touch with South African friends and visited several times. I read Afrikaans literature on a regular basis. I really love the language. I speak 8 languages more or less fluently and I am familiar with the sound of six more, and of all those I love the sound of Afrikaans best, along with European Portuguese, Austrian German and Swedish. Afrikaans sings and dances. It is a delightfully elegant language that, as it was evolving from a mere dialect of Dutch, has acquired a wonderfully expressive power of its own and taken profound roots in its habitat. For one who is not in daily touch with Zulu and its cognates it is very difficult to acquire a working knowledge, let alone any ‘intimacy’ with the Bantu languages, but we speakers of Dutch are fortunate in that we could rely very early on Afrikaans to impart at least an introduction into the world of its peoples. Anyone who reads ‘Die Swerfjare van Poppie Nongena’ must realize the advantage Afrikaans gave us in the sixties over readers of even that internationally acclaimed ’Cry, the Beloved Country’ by Paton. Marais’ ’Die Dans van die Reën’ is a prime example of Afrikaans poetry’s deep-rooted intimacy with South Africa’s ‘first nations’ who were living at the Cape before European and Bantu nations moved in. And of course, it gives access to the vibrant cultural scene of its White and Coloured native speakers.
What is the difference between a finite verb and a nonfinite verb?
Verbs may be classified in different ways as to 01. Strong and weak verbs 02. Transitive and intransitive verbs etc.,Similarly verbs may also be classified as 04. Finite and non-finite verbs.Finite verb can complete the predicate by itself. It means , there is only one verb in the predicate part of the sentence.Ex: 01. Fire burns. 02. The old village school head master died on sport in a road accident yesterday night. Note : In the first sentence , ‘ burns’ is the one word and only one verb which completes the predicate . In the second sentence , the predicate contains many words but ‘died’ is the only one verb which completes the predicate . Hence ‘burns’ and ‘died’ are Finite verbs or Finites All present tense and past tense verbs ( V1 & V2 ) are the best examples for Finites.Non finites are the verbs which can not form the predicates by themselves. It means they need one more verb to complete the predicate . Then there are more than one verbs in the predicate part of the sentence.Non finites ( Non Finite Verbs ) are again subdivided into several categories; in English, they are the following three categories.01. The Present Participle.Ex: I am writing some lessons.Note: all main verbs ending in –“ing” are the examples of present participlesEx: reading, walking , smoking 02. The Past Participle.Ex: I have spoken to her . Note: Main verbs in the third column ( ending with-d.-ed. –t,-n,-ne,-en ) are the examples of this category.Ex: shed , shown , left , learnt , stood, learned , shaken , 03. The Present Infinitive. ( Infinitive) Ex” I am to go. Note : The Infinitive usually takes ‘ to ’ before it . Ex: to wait, to halt, to buy etc.,
Which language should I learn: German, French or Spanish?
My grandfather used to say:English: the language of the worldFrench: the language of politics and the eliteGerman: the language of engineersGiven the fact that he was born in 1917 it might be a.bit back dated, still in Europe it largely applies.Traditionally German opens doors to Central, Eastern Europe and TurkeySpanish opens doors to Latin America traditionally, having said so.The choice between Spanish or German is difficult it depends on:LocationBusiness EnvironmentI”d say go for both. German opens doors door other languages like Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, SwedishSpanish opens doors to languages like Portuguese, French and Italian.As i said before if you master both you allow yourself open to some pretty good opportunities