The fastest words to learn are the ones you see most. This deck lists the 60 most common Afrikaans words, each with a clear English meaning and a real example sentence. Study them below, or download the deck for Anki or Quizlet.
The best Afrikaans flashcards to learn first are the words you meet most often. This free deck pairs the 60 most common Afrikaans words, like huis, water, brood, with a plain English meaning and a real example sentence for each. Download it as a CSV for Anki or Quizlet, or learn the words in context by reading.
CSV columns are word, translation, example (with a header row). Ready to import into Anki, Quizlet, or any spaced-repetition app.
60 most common Afrikaans words · Updated July 2026
| Afrikaans | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| huis | house, home | Sy woon in 'n klein huis. |
| water | water | Die water in die rivier is koud. |
| brood | bread | Sy koop vars brood by die bakkery. |
| dag | day | Dit is 'n pragtige dag vandag. |
| nag | night | Goeie nag, slaap lekker. |
| man | man | Die man werk in die stad. |
| vrou | woman; wife | Die vrou dra 'n rooi rok. |
| kind | child | Die kind speel buite in die tuin. |
| hond | dog | My hond hardloop graag in die park. |
| kat | cat | Die kat slaap op die warm bed. |
| boek | book | Ek lees 'n interessante boek. |
| skool | school | Die kinders loop saam skool toe. |
| tyd | time | Ek het vandag nie tyd nie. |
| jaar | year | Volgende jaar wil ek Frans leer. |
| geld | money | Hy spaar sy geld vir 'n fiets. |
| kos | food | Die kos by daardie restaurant is heerlik. |
| stad | city, town | Kaapstad is 'n pragtige stad. |
| vriend | friend | Hy is my beste vriend. |
| wees | to be | Ek wil altyd eerlik wees. |
| hê | to have | Ek wil graag 'n hond hê. |
| gaan | to go | Ons gaan môre see toe. |
| kom | to come | Kom asseblief betyds. |
| sien | to see | Ek sien 'n voël in die boom. |
| eet | to eat | Ons eet saam aandete. |
| drink | to drink | Hy drink elke oggend koffie. |
| praat | to talk, to speak | Sy praat drie tale. |
| maak | to make, to do | Sy maak lekker kos. |
| weet | to know | Ek weet nie waar my sleutels is nie. |
| dink | to think | Ek dink dit is 'n goeie idee. |
| sê | to say | Wat sê jy? |
| loop | to walk | Ons loop elke oggend in die park. |
| werk | to work | Sy werk by 'n hospitaal. |
| lees | to read | Die kind leer om te lees. |
| skryf | to write | Hy skryf 'n brief aan sy ouma. |
| slaap | to sleep | Die baba slaap rustig. |
| wil | to want | Ek wil 'n koppie tee hê. |
| kan | can, to be able to | Sy kan baie goed swem. |
| groot | big, large | Die olifant is baie groot. |
| klein | small, little | Die muis is baie klein. |
| mooi | beautiful, pretty | Die blomme in die tuin is mooi. |
| goed | good | Die kos smaak goed. |
| sleg | bad | Die weer was sleg gister. |
| nuut | new | My selfoon is nuut. |
| oud | old | My oupa is tagtig jaar oud. |
| warm | warm, hot | Die sop is lekker warm. |
| koud | cold | Dit is baie koud in die winter. |
| maklik | easy | Hierdie toets was maklik. |
| moeilik | difficult | Afrikaans is nie moeilik nie. |
| gelukkig | happy | Ons voel baie gelukkig vandag. |
| vinnig | fast, quick | Die trein is baie vinnig. |
| en | and | Ek het brood en kaas gekoop. |
| of | or | Wil jy tee of koffie hê? |
| maar | but | Ek is moeg, maar gelukkig. |
| nie | not | Ek weet nie. |
| ja | yes | Ja, dit is reg. |
| nee | no | Nee, dankie. |
| asseblief | please | Gee my die water, asseblief. |
| dankie | thank you | Dankie vir jou hulp. |
| hier | here | Kom hier, asseblief. |
| daar | there | Die boek lê daar op die tafel. |
Flashcards fix words in memory; reading teaches you to use them. Lingo7 lets you read real books in Afrikaans with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, and save any word to review later. Free to start.
The deck is built from high-frequency words, the ones that make up most of everyday Afrikaans. Learning them first gives you the biggest return per card, because you will meet them again and again the moment you start reading or listening.
Flashcards work best with spaced repetition: review a card, and if you knew it, wait longer before seeing it again. Anki and Quizlet both do this automatically. Download the CSV, import it, and review a few minutes a day. Keep the example sentence on the card so you learn how the word actually behaves, not just its dictionary gloss.
One honest limit: flashcards build recognition, but you learn to use a word by meeting it in real context. Pair this deck with reading. When a word you drilled shows up in a story, it stops being a flashcard and becomes part of the language. That pairing is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
Best Afrikaans books for your level (A1 to C1) →
Not sure of your level? Take the Afrikaans CEFR test (A1 to C2) →
How long does it take to learn Afrikaans? See the timeline →
Start with the most frequent words. A few thousand high-frequency Afrikaans words cover the majority of everyday text, so each of those cards pays off far more than a rare one. This deck gives you the top 60 to begin with, each with a meaning and an example sentence, so you learn the word in context rather than in isolation. When a card sticks, meet the word again in a real book to lock it in.
Click Download CSV to save the deck, then in Anki choose File, Import and select the file. Map the first column to the front (the Afrikaans word) and the second to the back (the meaning); the third column holds an example sentence you can add to the back too. The first row is a header, so tell Anki to ignore it or delete that one card. For Quizlet, use Copy for Quizlet and paste into the import box with Tab between term and definition.
Flashcards are excellent for building recognition and drilling the first few thousand words, but on their own they teach words out of context. You learn to use Afrikaans, not just recognize it, by reading and hearing the words in real sentences. The efficient combination is flashcards for raw vocabulary plus reading for context, collocation and grammar. That is exactly what Lingo7 is built around.
Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 common words cover most everyday Afrikaans text, and around 5,000 gets you comfortably through many novels. You do not need all of them before you start: with sentence-aligned translation you can begin reading real Afrikaans at a couple of thousand words and pick up the rest from context. This deck is a fast way to front-load the most useful 60.