Sterk

Sterk is an adjective in Dutch and Afrikaans meaning strong, robust, or intense. It is used to describe physical strength, power, or quality, as well as to express intensity in flavors, effects, or arguments. In Dutch, it can appear predicatively (Het is sterk) as well as attributively in some fixed expressions (een sterk argument), and it also serves as an intensifier in various contexts.

Etymology and cognates: The word originates from Proto-Germanic roots related to other Germanic languages. It shares cognates with German stark, English stark, Swedish stark, and related forms in other Dutch and Scandinavian languages. The Dutch spelling xooghes reflects typical sound changes within the West Germanic family, yielding the current form sterk.

Usage in Dutch and Afrikaans: In both languages, sterk covers physical strength and intensity. In Dutch, common phrases include sterk bouwen (build strongly), sterk optreden (act strongly), and sterke smaken (strong flavors) with the appropriate inflection before nouns. In Afrikaans, sterk operates similarly for strength and intensity, and it appears in compound expressions and clauses describing robust qualities or emphatic statements. The word also functions in comparative and superlative forms: sterker (stronger) and sterkste (strongest). The noun for strength is sterkte in Dutch, and often mirrors usage in Afrikaans as sterkte.

See also: Related Germanic terms and language resources discuss the cross-linguistic development of words meaning strong. In everyday Dutch and Afrikaans, sterk is a common, versatile descriptor with broad applicability across physical, perceptual, and rhetorical domains.