Afrikaans to Setswana: preserve noun class beyond the plural noun
A singular noun already carries a class prefix
Afrikaans typically marks the plural by changing a noun’s ending. Setswana noun classes can mark both singular and plural through prefixes: motho means a person, while batho means people. The beginning of the target noun is therefore grammatical information, not a detachable article corresponding to Afrikaans die.
If an attendance notice changes from one person to several, revise the full Setswana sentence. Noun-class agreement can affect descriptive words, pronouns, and the predicate as well as the noun itself. An Afrikaans edit from persoon to persone may look small, but the target needs a coordinated change rather than an added plural ending.
Hy and sy can share ene
Afrikaans hy and subject sy distinguish a male and female person. Setswana ene can refer to either; its person reference does not encode that same gender contrast. The target’s noun-class system should not be mistaken for a masculine-feminine system that duplicates Afrikaans pronouns.
When two people are discussed and the Afrikaans switches between hy and sy, repeat the relevant name where the actor changes. A correct Setswana pronoun can still leave a reader unsure which person is meant if the source’s gender cue was doing all the work. This is useful in a handover message where one person collects an item and another receives it.
My and Jan se require the class of the possession
Afrikaans my remains unchanged before different nouns, and Jan se uses the same se regardless of the possession. Setswana possessive constructions use agreement associated with the possessed noun’s class. The owner alone does not determine every part of the target phrase.
If the intended item changes from a house to a tree or another noun in a different class, check the whole translated ownership phrase. Replacing only the noun can leave an incompatible agreement form. Likewise, changing a single possession to several can alter agreement without changing whose belongings they are. Track ownership and grammatical class separately.
A separate-looking verbal element can belong to one predicate
Setswana writing can present elements of a verbal construction as separate orthographic words. An Afrikaans reader should not assume that each small written element introduces another action or participant. Subject and object agreement, tense, aspect, and negation can all contribute to the interpretation of the predicate.
Keep the complete translated construction when copying a request. Removing a small element because it seems repetitive can change who acts, who is affected, or whether the statement is negative. In a sentence asking someone to help a group, distinguish the helper from the people being helped before editing any pronoun or agreement form. The target should express the same relationship even when it uses more written pieces than the Afrikaans sentence.
Language references