Sy snoei die kruieplant.

In this sentence, sy means she.

Afrikaans sy can be a little tricky because it can also appear in other contexts:

• sy = she
• sy = her
• sy = his

So how do you know which one it is here?
Because sy is at the start of the sentence, before the verb snoei, so it is functioning as the subject. That makes she the correct interpretation here.

In Sy snoei die kruieplant, the structure is:

• Sy = she
• snoei = prunes / trims
• die kruieplant = the herb plant

Snoei means to prune, to trim back, or to cut back plants.

It is commonly used for:

• bushes
• trees
• vines
• garden plants

So in this sentence, it suggests she is cutting or trimming the herb plant to shape it or help it grow.

It is more specific than a very general verb like cut.

Yes, die here means the.

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for both singular and plural nouns:

• die plant = the plant
• die plante = the plants

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not change the article based on gender. So you just use die.

Yes, kruieplant is one word, and that is very normal in Afrikaans.

It is a compound noun:

• kruie = herbs
• plant = plant

So kruieplant means herb plant.

Afrikaans often combines words into one compound noun, much like Dutch and German. English sometimes writes similar expressions as two words, but Afrikaans often prefers one.

Because the word for herbs in Afrikaans is kruie.

So the compound is built from:

• kruie
  • plant → kruieplant

This may feel unusual to an English speaker, but it is a standard Afrikaans compound formation.

The word order is the normal subject–verb–object order:

• Sy = subject
• snoei = verb
• die kruieplant = object

So it works very much like English:

• She prunes the herb plant.

This is one reason simple Afrikaans sentences can feel quite familiar to English speakers.

No. Afrikaans verbs generally do not change according to the subject the way English verbs sometimes do.

Compare:

• Ek snoei = I prune
• Jy snoei = you prune
• Sy snoei = she prunes
• Ons snoei = we prune

The verb stays snoei.

That is much simpler than English, where you have:

• I prune
• she prunes

Afrikaans does not add an extra -s for she/he/it.

It is in the present tense.

Sy snoei die kruieplant means:

• She prunes the herb plant or, depending on context,
• She is pruning the herb plant

Afrikaans simple present can often cover both a general present meaning and a present continuous meaning, depending on context.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

• Sy ≈ say / see-like, depending on accent, but with an Afrikaans sound in between
• snoei ≈ snoo-ay
• die = dee
• kruieplant ≈ KRAY-uh-plant or KROY-uh-plant, depending on accent

A few notes:

• die in Afrikaans is not pronounced like English die
• oei in snoei is a diphthong, not two fully separate syllables
• ui in kruie can be difficult for English speakers and varies by accent

If you are learning pronunciation, die = dee is one of the most important things to remember.

No, in normal Afrikaans die is pronounced dee.

This is a very common beginner point of confusion because it is spelled the same as the English word die, but it does not sound the same.

So in this sentence:

• die kruieplant = dee kruieplant

Yes, absolutely.

Because snoei means prune, trim, or cut back, a natural English translation could be:

• She prunes the herb plant
• She is pruning the herb plant
• She is trimming the herb plant

The best choice depends on context and on the translation style being used.

You would usually use the Afrikaans double negative:

Sy snoei nie die kruieplant nie.
= She does not prune the herb plant.

Notice the two nie forms:

• one after the verb
• one at the end of the sentence

This double negative is a very important feature of standard Afrikaans.

You usually make it a yes/no question by putting the verb first:

Snoei sy die kruieplant?
= Is she pruning the herb plant? / Does she prune the herb plant?

This is a common Afrikaans pattern:

• statement: Sy snoei die kruieplant.
• question: Snoei sy die kruieplant?

Here it clearly means a living plant.

Afrikaans plant can refer to a plant in the biological sense, just like English. In other contexts, English plant can also mean a factory or industrial site, but in kruieplant the meaning is definitely a garden or herb plant.

Afrikaans usually does not need a separate progressive form the way English does.

English often distinguishes:

• She prunes
• She is pruning

Afrikaans very often uses the simple present:

• Sy snoei

Context tells you whether it means a habitual action or something happening right now.

So Sy snoei die kruieplant can naturally cover both ideas.