Indien sy geen kwitansie het nie, motiveer sy reiskoste.

Yes. Indien means if, but it is usually more formal than as.

So:

• Indien sy geen kwitansie het nie... = If she has no receipt...
• In everyday speech, many speakers might more often use as:
  • As sy geen kwitansie het nie...

So indien is correct, but it sounds a bit more formal or official.

Because indien introduces a subordinate clause, and in Afrikaans subordinate clauses often push the finite verb toward the end.

Structure here:

• Indien = if
• sy = she
• geen kwitansie = no receipt
• het = has
• nie = not

So the clause literally looks like:

• If she no receipt has not

That is normal Afrikaans word order in a clause introduced by indien.

Afrikaans normally uses double negation.

Here:

• geen = no / not any
• final nie closes the negative structure

So:

• sy het geen kwitansie nie = she has no receipt

This is one of the most important things for English speakers to get used to. English usually uses one negative, but Afrikaans often uses two parts.

Geen means no or not any.

So:

• geen kwitansie = no receipt
• geen geld = no money
• geen rede = no reason

It is used before a noun. In this sentence, it shows that she does not have any receipt.

Because geen already does the job that no does in English.

Compare:

• ’n kwitansie = a receipt
• geen kwitansie = no receipt

You do not say geen ’n kwitansie.
Just like in English, you would not say no a receipt.

Because the sentence begins with the indien clause. In Afrikaans main clauses, the finite verb normally stays in the second position.

So the first slot is already taken by the opening clause:

• Indien sy geen kwitansie het nie, ...

That means the main clause comes next with the verb first:

• motiveer sy reiskoste

This is called inversion.

Compare:

• Sy motiveer reiskoste. = She justifies travel expenses.
• Indien sy geen kwitansie het nie, motiveer sy reiskoste.

So after the fronted if-clause, the verb comes before the subject.

Not in the everyday English sense of encourage or inspire.

In administrative or formal Afrikaans, motiveer often means:

• justify
• provide reasons for
• substantiate

So in this sentence, it means she must explain or justify the travel expenses, especially because there is no receipt.

Reiskoste means travel costs or travel expenses.

It is a compound noun:

• reis = travel
• koste = costs/expenses

Afrikaans forms compound nouns very often, just like Dutch and German.

Other examples:

• skoolgeld = school fees
• motorongeluk = car accident
• werkservaring = work experience

In meaning, it refers to expenses or costs, so it is plural in idea, but Afrikaans often treats such compound nouns as a single noun form.

So you can think of reiskoste as a set or category of costs: travel expenses.

English does something similar with words like luggage or equipment, where the grammar and the meaning do not always line up neatly with a simple singular/plural pattern.

Afrikaans sometimes leaves that implicit when the meaning is clear from context.

So motiveer sy reiskoste can be understood as she justifies (her) travel expenses.

If you wanted to make it more explicit, Afrikaans could use haar:

• motiveer sy haar reiskoste

But in many official or bureaucratic contexts, the shorter version is common if the meaning is obvious.

Not always. Sy can be tricky because it can mean different things depending on context.

It can mean:

• she
• her
• his

But in this sentence:

• first sy = she
• second sy = she

You can tell from the grammar:

• Indien sy geen kwitansie het nie... → subject pronoun, so she
• ...motiveer sy reiskoste. → subject pronoun again, so she

It does not mean his here.

Yes.

• As sy geen kwitansie het nie, motiveer sy reiskoste.

That would be more everyday and conversational.
Using indien makes the sentence sound more formal, official, or written.

Yes, it is standard to use a comma after the opening subordinate clause.

So:

• Indien sy geen kwitansie het nie, motiveer sy reiskoste.

The comma helps separate:

1. the conditional clause
2. the main clause

This is very common in Afrikaans.

Yes. A learner-friendly version would be:

• Sy motiveer reiskoste indien sy geen kwitansie het nie.

That keeps the main clause first, so the word order may feel easier.

But the original sentence is perfectly normal, especially in formal writing.

It sounds quite formal and administrative.

Words like:

• indien
• motiveer
• reiskoste

all give it an official, paperwork-like tone.

A more everyday version might use simpler wording, but in forms, policies, and office language, this kind of sentence is very typical.

A very useful pattern is:

• Indien/As + subject + object + verb + nie, verb + subject + object.

Using this sentence:

• Indien sy geen kwitansie het nie, motiveer sy reiskoste.

So the main lessons are:

1. indien/as introduces a subordinate clause
2. the verb in that clause moves toward the end
3. negatives often use geen ... nie
4. after a fronted clause, the main clause shows inversion:
   • motiveer sy ...
   • not sy motiveer ...