Sy plant die saailing met die troffel oor.

Because this is a separable verb in Afrikaans: oorplant = to transplant.

In a normal main clause, the finite verb goes to the second position, and the separable part moves to the end:

• Sy plant die saailing oor. = She transplants the seedling.

So plant ... oor works together as one meaning unit.
It does not mean she is simply planting it over in a literal English sense.

You can see the full verb together in other structures, for example:

• om die saailing oor te plant = to transplant the seedling
• Sy het die saailing oorgeplant. = She transplanted the seedling.

Here, Sy means she.

It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence. Afrikaans does not normally capitalize pronouns in the middle of a sentence.

A useful thing to know is that sy can also mean his in other contexts:

• Sy plant die saailing oor. = She transplants the seedling.
• sy troffel = his trowel

So the meaning depends on grammar and position in the sentence.

No. In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• Ek plant = I plant
• Jy plant = you plant
• Sy plant = she plants
• Ons plant = we plant

This is simpler than English, where we say I plant but she plants.
Afrikaans keeps the same form: plant.

Met die troffel means with the trowel.

Here met is used to show the instrument or tool used to do the action.

So:

• met die troffel = using the trowel

This is very similar to English with in sentences like:

• She cuts it with a knife.
• She digs with a spade.

In this sentence, it tells you how she is transplanting the seedling.

Saailing means seedling.

It refers to a very young plant, especially one that has recently grown from seed.

So:

• 'n saailing = a seedling
• die saailing = the seedling

If you already know the meaning, the main grammar point is that it is a normal noun and takes the article die here because it is definite.

Because die is the normal definite article in Afrikaans, meaning the.

So:

• die saailing = the seedling
• die troffel = the trowel

Afrikaans does not have different definite articles for gender like some other languages.
It uses die very broadly.

Compare:

• 'n saailing = a seedling
• die saailing = the seedling

and

• 'n troffel = a trowel
• die troffel = the trowel

Yes. This is normal Afrikaans main-clause word order.

The pattern is:

Subject + finite verb + rest of sentence + separable particle

So here:

• Sy = subject
• plant = finite verb
• die saailing met die troffel = the middle part
• oor = separable particle

That is why the sentence is Sy plant die saailing met die troffel oor and not Sy oorplant die saailing... in an ordinary main clause.

Yes. It stays attached in some other sentence types.

For example:

• om die saailing oor te plant = to transplant the seedling
• Sy het die saailing oorgeplant. = She transplanted the seedling.

So the basic dictionary form is oorplant, but in a present-tense main clause it often splits into plant ... oor.

In this context, yes, that is the most natural interpretation.

Troffel can refer to a trowel in general. Depending on context, it could be a garden trowel or a builder’s trowel, but with saailing and planting, a garden trowel is the obvious meaning.

So a learner should understand:

• troffel = trowel
• in this sentence: probably a small gardening trowel

Yes.

You could say:

• Sy plant die saailing oor. = She transplants the seedling.

That already gives a complete sentence.
Adding met die troffel just gives extra information about how she does it.

So the tool phrase is optional, but useful if you want to be more specific.