Die kaartjieskantoor by die toegangshek sê die konsert is uitverkoop.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, equivalent to the. It does not change for gender, and it is also used for both singular and plural nouns in ordinary usage.

So in this sentence:

• die kaartjieskantoor = the ticket office
• die konsert = the concert

An English speaker often expects different article forms, but Afrikaans keeps it simple here.

Yes. Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• kaartjies = tickets
• kantoor = office

Together they form kaartjieskantoor = ticket office

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often separates these words, but Afrikaans usually joins them.

That is just how this compound is formed. In Afrikaans, the first part of a compound is not always identical to what English would use.

A few helpful points:

• kaartjie means ticket
• kaartjies means tickets
• kaartjieskantoor is the normal way to say ticket office

Also, kaartjie is one of those Afrikaans words that historically looks like a diminutive, but in everyday use it is simply the normal word for ticket.

It is a prepositional phrase meaning by/at the entrance gate.

Here it describes the location of die kaartjieskantoor, not the concert. So the structure is:

• Die kaartjieskantoor by die toegangshek = The ticket office at the entrance gate

An English speaker might wonder whether it could describe the concert, but because it comes right after kaartjieskantoor, it naturally attaches to that noun phrase.

For the same reason: it is a compound noun.

• toegang = access / entrance
• hek = gate

Together: toegangshek = entrance gate / access gate

Afrikaans strongly prefers writing these compounds as single words.

Because Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• ek sê = I say
• jy sê = you say
• hy sê = he says
• ons sê = we say

Unlike English, there is normally no special -s ending for he/she/it. So die kaartjieskantoor sê is completely normal.

That is the standard spelling of the verb sê meaning say.

The ê shows the vowel quality/length and is part of the normal written form. It is not optional in careful standard writing.

For a learner, the important thing is simply:

• sê = say / says

You may also notice that this helps distinguish it from other forms of se you might encounter in informal or possessive use.

Afrikaans often leaves out dat after verbs like sê when the meaning is clear.

So this sentence has:

• sê die konsert is uitverkoop

You could also say:

• Die kaartjieskantoor by die toegangshek sê dat die konsert uitverkoop is.

Notice the difference:

• without dat: die konsert is uitverkoop
• with dat: die konsert uitverkoop is

So the sentence is not missing anything essential; Afrikaans simply allows dat to be omitted here.

Because when dat is omitted, Afrikaans often keeps normal main-clause word order in that following clause.

So:

• sê die konsert is uitverkoop = normal order
• sê dat die konsert uitverkoop is = subordinate-clause order

This is a very common pattern, and English speakers often notice it quickly because English word order does not change in the same way.

Here uitverkoop means sold out.

It is functioning like a predicate adjective or participial form after is:

• die konsert is uitverkoop = the concert is sold out

You do not add an ending here because it comes after is.

If it were placed before a noun, you may see an attributive form such as:

• 'n uitverkoopte konsert = a sold-out concert

So after is, uitverkoop is the form you want.

Because Afrikaans does not capitalize all nouns the way German does.

So words like:

• kaartjieskantoor
• toegangshek
• konsert

stay in lower case unless they begin the sentence or are part of a proper name.

That is why only Die is capitalized here: it is the first word of the sentence.

A rough learner-friendly guide would be:

• kaartjieskantoor ≈ KAAR-kies-kan-TOOR
• toegangshek ≈ TOO-ghangs-hek
• sê ≈ seh with a longer/open vowel

Two useful notes:

• The -tjie- part in kaartjie often sounds much smoother than an English speaker expects, often closer to -kie than to a full t + j sequence.
• The g sound in toegangshek is usually a guttural Afrikaans sound, not the normal English g.

These are only approximations, but they are enough to get you close.