Sy lees die versoek.

That is a very common question. Sy can mean either she or his, but the sentence structure tells you which one it is.

Here, Sy comes before the verb lees, so it is the subject pronoun and means she.

• Sy lees die versoek. = She reads the request.
• sy versoek would mean his request.

So in this sentence, Sy definitely means she.

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change form according to the subject in the present tense. That is much simpler than English.

You say:

• Ek lees = I read
• Jy lees = you read
• Sy lees = she reads
• Ons lees = we read

So lees stays the same no matter who is doing the action.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

So:

• die versoek = the request

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

So unlike some other languages, you do not need different forms of the depending on gender or number.

Also, die in Afrikaans is pronounced roughly like dee, not like the English word die.

Because die means a specific request: the request.

If you wanted to say a request, you would use ’n:

• die versoek = the request
• ’n versoek = a request

So the sentence is talking about a particular request, not just any request.

Yes, in this simple sentence the word order is the same as English:

• Sy = subject
• lees = verb
• die versoek = object

So the pattern is:

Subject + Verb + Object

That said, Afrikaans can change word order when another element comes first:

• Vandag lees sy die versoek. = Today she reads the request.

In that kind of sentence, the verb still stays in the second position.

It can depend on context. The simple present in Afrikaans can often cover both ideas:

• a general action or habit
• something happening now

So Sy lees die versoek could mean either she reads the request or she is reading the request, depending on the situation.

If you want to be very explicit about an ongoing action, Afrikaans often uses:

• Sy is besig om die versoek te lees. = She is busy reading the request.

Here, versoek is a noun. You can tell because it comes after the article die:

• die versoek = the request

In other contexts, versoek can also be related to the idea of requesting, but in this sentence it is clearly a noun.

Depending on context, versoek can be translated as:

• request
• appeal
• petition

But in this sentence, the important point is that it is functioning as a noun.

You would usually use the Afrikaans double nie pattern:

Sy lees nie die versoek nie.

Afrikaans often puts:

• the first nie after the verb
• the second nie near the end of the clause

So this is one of the classic patterns learners need to get used to.

In a simple yes/no question, Afrikaans usually puts the verb first:

Lees sy die versoek?

That is similar to English inversion in questions:

• She reads the request.
• Does she read the request?

Afrikaans does not need an extra helping verb like does. It just changes the word order.