Hierdie rat is stukkend.

Hierdie is the demonstrative word for this or these.

In Hierdie rat is stukkend, it means this, because rat is singular.

A useful thing to remember is that hierdie does not change between singular and plural:

• hierdie rat = this gear
• hierdie ratte = these gears

So unlike English, Afrikaans uses the same form for both this and these.

Because hierdie already does the job of determining the noun.

Just as English says this gear, not the this gear, Afrikaans says hierdie rat, not die hierdie rat.

So hierdie replaces the need for an article here.

Here, rat means a gear or cog in a machine.

This can be confusing for an English speaker because it looks like the English word rat. But in Afrikaans, in this context, it is a mechanical word.

If you are talking about the animal, Afrikaans usually uses rot.

So in this sentence, rat is not the animal unless the context is very unusual.

Yes. The structure is very similar to English:

• Hierdie = this
• rat = gear
• is = is
• stukkend = broken

So the pattern is:

demonstrative + noun + is + adjective

That is why it feels very familiar to an English speaker.

Because stukkend comes after is.

In Afrikaans, many adjectives have one form when they come after a linking verb like is, and another form when they come before a noun.

Compare:

• Hierdie rat is stukkend. = This gear is broken.
• 'n stukkende rat = a broken gear

So:

• after is: stukkend
• before a noun: stukkende

This is a very common pattern in Afrikaans.

Usually, yes, but the feeling is slightly broader.

Stukkend can mean:

• broken
• damaged
• not working
• out of order

It is especially common for objects and machines.

For example, if a machine part no longer works, stukkend is very natural.

A related word is gebreek, which is more literally broken in the sense of fractured or having been broken. In many everyday situations, though, stukkend is the more natural choice for something that does not work properly.

Mostly yes.

Is is the present-tense form of wees, which means to be.

A nice feature of Afrikaans is that verbs do not change much for different persons, so you get:

• ek is = I am
• jy is = you are
• hy/sy is = he/she is

So is is very straightforward compared with English verb forms.

You usually move is to the front:

Is hierdie rat stukkend?

That means Is this gear broken?

This is very similar to English, where you also invert the verb and subject:

• This gear is broken.
• Is this gear broken?

Afrikaans normally uses a double nie in negation:

Hierdie rat is nie stukkend nie.

That means This gear is not broken.

The pattern is:

• first nie after the verb or the main predicate area
• second nie at the end of the clause

This double negative structure is one of the most important things to get used to in Afrikaans.

You would say:

Hierdie ratte is stukkend.

Changes:

• rat becomes ratte in the plural
• hierdie stays the same
• stukkend stays the same

So:

• Hierdie rat is stukkend. = This gear is broken.
• Hierdie ratte is stukkend. = These gears are broken.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• hierdie ≈ HEER-dee

So the whole sentence is roughly:

HEER-dee rat is STUK-kent

That said, pronunciation varies somewhat by accent, and English spelling cannot capture it perfectly. The most useful part to remember is that hierdie is said as one word, with the stress near the beginning.