Is sy aan die snoei?

Because this is a yes/no question in Afrikaans. In a normal statement, the verb comes after the subject:

Sy is aan die snoei.
= She is pruning.

To turn it into a yes/no question, Afrikaans usually puts the finite verb first:

Is sy aan die snoei?

This is similar to English Is she pruning?

Here, sy means she.

A useful thing to know is that sy can also mean his, but the sentence structure tells you which one it is.

• Is sy aan die snoei? → sy is the subject, so it means she
• sy tuin → here it comes before a noun, so it means his garden

So in this sentence, there is no ambiguity once you look at the grammar.

aan die + verb is a common Afrikaans way to express an action that is in progress.

So aan die snoei means something like:

• pruning
• busy pruning
• in the middle of pruning

It often corresponds to the English be + -ing form.

So:

• Sy is aan die snoei. = She is pruning / She is busy pruning.

In this construction, die is part of the fixed pattern aan die + verb. It does not need to be translated literally as the in normal English.

So although die usually means the, in aan die snoei you should learn the whole chunk together as a grammatical pattern meaning in the process of ...-ing.

Think of aan die snoei as one unit rather than translating each word separately.

Because the aan die + verb construction does not use te.

Compare:

• Sy is aan die snoei.
• Sy probeer snoei. / Sy probeer om te snoei.

After aan die, Afrikaans uses the bare verb form:

• aan die werk
• aan die eet
• aan die slaap
• aan die snoei

So aan die te snoei would be incorrect.

It is functioning as a verb in this expression.

Afrikaans often uses the plain verb form after aan die. So snoei is still the action to prune / to trim.

This can feel a little unusual to English speakers because English would normally use an -ing form here, but Afrikaans does not need that ending.

The statement is:

Sy is aan die snoei.

That means She is pruning or She is busy pruning.

So the question is formed simply by switching the order:

• Statement: Sy is aan die snoei.
• Question: Is sy aan die snoei?

Yes, you can, but it is not exactly the same in emphasis.

• Sy snoei. can mean She prunes or sometimes She is pruning, depending on context.
• Sy is aan die snoei. more clearly emphasizes that the action is happening right now.

So if you want to stress that she is currently in the middle of the activity, aan die snoei is very useful.

Yes. Is sy besig om te snoei? is also natural Afrikaans.

Both patterns can express an ongoing action:

• Is sy aan die snoei?
• Is sy besig om te snoei?

A rough difference is:

• aan die + verb often sounds very activity-focused
• besig om te + verb is another very common way to say someone is busy doing something

In many everyday situations, both are possible.

Afrikaans usually uses double nie for negation.

So the negative statement is:

Sy is nie aan die snoei nie.
= She is not pruning.

And the negative question is:

Is sy nie aan die snoei nie?
= Isn’t she pruning? / Is she not pruning?

This double nie ... nie pattern is very important in Afrikaans.

snoei usually means to prune, to trim, or to cut back, especially with plants, trees, bushes, or vines.

So it is more specific than a general verb like sny (cut).

• sny = cut
• snoei = prune / trim back

If someone is working in a garden, snoei is often the right word.

Yes, it is natural. It would fit well in a situation where you are asking whether a woman or girl is currently pruning something, for example in a garden or yard.

For example, if you see someone with gardening tools, asking Is sy aan die snoei? sounds completely normal.