Sy hou die mikrofoon sodat die gehoor kan saamsing.

Here hou means holds.

Afrikaans hou can mean different things depending on the structure:

• hou + direct object often means hold or keep
  • Sy hou die mikrofoon = She holds the microphone
• hou van + noun/verb means like / love
  • Sy hou van musiek = She likes music

So in this sentence, because it is hou die mikrofoon and not hou van die mikrofoon, the meaning is clearly holds.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present tense where English might use either holds or is holding.

So:

• Sy hou die mikrofoon can mean She holds the microphone or She is holding the microphone

Context tells you which English translation fits best.

If Afrikaans wants to emphasize that something is happening right now, it can use a construction like is besig om te:

• Sy is besig om die mikrofoon te hou = She is busy holding the microphone

But in ordinary speech, the plain present tense is very common and natural.

Sodat usually means so that or in order that.

It introduces a clause of purpose or result. In this sentence, it shows the reason/purpose for holding the microphone:

• Sy hou die mikrofoon sodat die gehoor kan saamsing.
• She holds the microphone so that the audience can sing along.

A useful point: sodat is especially natural when the second clause has a different subject.

• Sy holds the microphone
• die gehoor can sing along

Because the subjects are different, sodat works very well here.

Yes. Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for basically all nouns:

• singular: die mikrofoon = the microphone
• singular: die gehoor = the audience
• plural: die mense = the people

Afrikaans does not have different forms like masculine/feminine/neuter the, and it does not change the for plural nouns. That makes articles simpler than in many European languages.

Grammatically, gehoor is singular. It is a collective noun, like English audience.

So even though it refers to many people, Afrikaans treats it as one group:

• die gehoor = the audience

That is why the sentence uses die gehoor as a single unit. English does something similar with the audience, the team, the crowd, and so on.

Kan means can / be able to.

So die gehoor kan saamsing means:

• the audience can sing along
• the audience is able to sing along

It adds the idea of possibility or ability. The point is not just that the audience sings along, but that holding the microphone makes it possible for them to do so.

Also, after modal verbs like kan, wil, moet, and mag, Afrikaans uses the next verb without te:

• Ek kan sing = I can sing
• not Ek kan te sing

So kan saamsing is exactly what you would expect.

Yes, you can see both, depending on the sentence structure.

This is a separable verb idea, similar to verb-particle combinations in Germanic languages.

• after a modal or in the infinitive, it is often written together:
  • kan saamsing
  • wil saamsing
• when the verb is the main finite verb in a main clause, it is often split:
  • Die gehoor sing saam. = The audience sings along.

So:

• kan saamsing is correct here
• sing saam is also correct in other sentence patterns

Yes. Sodat introduces a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses in Afrikaans usually push the verb part toward the end.

In this sentence:

• sodat die gehoor kan saamsing

Because the clause is short, it may not look very different from English. But if you add more words, the pattern becomes clearer:

• Sy hou die mikrofoon sodat die gehoor die refrein kan saamsing.

Here the verb group kan saamsing comes at the end of the clause.

So a good rule is:

• after sodat, expect subordinate-clause word order
• the verb cluster tends to come later, often at the end

Not naturally in this sentence.

Om te is often used when the subject stays the same:

• Sy neem die mikrofoon om te sing.
• She takes the microphone to sing.

But here the subjects are different:

• Sy holds the microphone
• die gehoor sings along

Because the second action belongs to a different subject, sodat is the better choice:

• Sy hou die mikrofoon sodat die gehoor kan saamsing.

So for English speakers, a useful shortcut is:

• same subject -> often om te
• different subject -> often sodat