Hy vra eerder as om stil te bly.

A word-for-word breakdown is:

• Hy = he
• vra = asks / ask
• eerder = rather
• as om = than to / rather than
• stil = silent / quiet
• te bly = to remain / to stay

So the sentence is literally something like:

He asks rather than to remain silent

In natural English, that becomes:

He asks rather than staying silent
or
He asks instead of remaining silent

Eerder as om is a common Afrikaans way to say rather than when the second part is an infinitive phrase.

Structure:

main verb + eerder as om + infinitive phrase

So here:

• Hy vra = the main action
• eerder as om stil te bly = the thing he does instead of another action

It is basically the Afrikaans equivalent of English rather than staying silent or instead of remaining silent.

Because bly is being used as an infinitive here.

In Afrikaans, many infinitive phrases use te before the verb, similar to English to:

• te bly = to stay / to remain
• te praat = to speak
• te wag = to wait

So om stil te bly means to remain silent.

Without te, it would not fit this infinitive structure.

Here om helps introduce the infinitive phrase.

Afrikaans often uses the pattern:

om + ... + te + verb

For example:

• om te lees = to read
• om stil te bly = to remain silent

After eerder as, this full infinitive construction is very natural:

• eerder as om stil te bly

So om is not translating a separate English word very strongly here; it is mainly part of the grammar of the infinitive phrase.

Because stil is describing the state that the subject remains in.

So:

• bly = remain / stay
• stil bly = stay quiet / remain silent

This is a very normal Afrikaans pattern: an adjective or state word comes before bly.

Examples:

• kalm bly = stay calm
• stil bly = stay quiet
• gesond bly = stay healthy

So stil te bly simply means to stay quiet or to remain silent.

Usually, in this pattern, eerder is the better choice.

Both eerder and liewer can sometimes relate to the idea of rather, but they are not always interchangeable.

• eerder often works in comparisons like rather than
• liewer often expresses preference, like preferably / would rather

So in a sentence like this:

• Hy vra eerder as om stil te bly = He asks rather than remains silent

eerder fits the comparison structure naturally.

A learner should remember:

• eerder as = rather than
• liewer is more often used in sentences like Ek wil liewer huis toe gaan = I would rather go home

In Afrikaans, just like in English, vra can be used without stating the object if the context already makes it clear.

So Hy vra can simply mean:

• He asks
• He asks a question
• He speaks up and asks

The sentence focuses on the contrast:

• he asks
• instead of staying silent

So the exact thing he asks is not important here.

It can mean both, depending on context.

vra can mean:

• ask a question
• ask for something
• request something

In this sentence, the meaning is most likely simply asks or speaks up to ask, because it is contrasted with remaining silent.

So the idea is not mainly requesting something, but not keeping quiet.

Yes, that would express a similar idea, but it is not the same structure.

• Hy bly nie stil nie; hy vra = He does not stay silent; he asks
• Hy vra eerder as om stil te bly = He asks rather than staying silent

The original sentence is smoother and more compact because it uses the rather than construction. Your alternative is more direct and split into two separate ideas.

Here bly means remain / stay, not live.

Afrikaans bly can mean different things:

• Ek bly in Kaapstad = I live in Cape Town
• Bly stil = Stay quiet
• Hy probeer kalm bly = He tries to stay calm

In stil te bly, it clearly means to remain in a certain state.

Yes. The word order is normal.

The main clause is:

• Hy vra

That is standard Afrikaans main-clause order: subject + finite verb.

Then comes the comparison/infinitive phrase:

• eerder as om stil te bly

So the whole sentence follows a very normal pattern:

subject + finite verb + adverb/comparison phrase

Nothing unusual is happening with verb placement here, apart from the regular infinitive structure om ... te bly.