welkom!
The English word "welcome" is translated into Afrikaans as welkom!
The term is used as a greeting when someone arrives. While welkom! functions as the greeting itself, the related verb verwelkom is used to describe the action of affirming or greeting someone's arrival.
Meaning: greeting given upon someone's arrival (intj)
Which one should you use?
Use the interjection welkom! to greet someone upon arrival, similar to the English "welcome!" Use the verb verwelkom when you want to describe the act of welcoming someone.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb verwelkom is a regular verb and follows standard conjugation patterns for the present and past tense.
Did you know?
- While 'welkom' is a greeting, if you want to say 'you are welcome' in response to 'thank you', you should instead say dis 'n plesier, which literally means 'it is a pleasure'.
- In many South African cultures, a verbal welkom! is often accompanied by the offering of food or tea, as hospitality is frequently expressed through sharing a meal rather than just words.
- The word welkom is a cognate of the English 'welcome', but it shares a direct ancestral link with the Dutch welkom, reflecting the language's evolution from 17th-century Dutch.
Examples in context
- Welkom by ons konferensie!Welcome to our conference!
- Kom kuier gerus saam, jy moet altyd welkom wees.Come visit anytime, you should always feel welcome.
Example conversation
Pieter arrives at Marelize's front door.
- MarelizeHallo Pieter, welkom!Hello Pieter, welcome!
- PieterDankie, Marelize.Thank you, Marelize.
- MarelizeKom asseblief binne.Please come inside.
- PieterEk is bly om hier te wees.I am glad to be here.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “welcome” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
