Lees die terugstuurbeleid en hou die aankoopbewys.

Because this is an instruction/command. In Afrikaans, commands usually use the bare verb at the beginning and leave out the subject.

So:

• Lees = Read!
• hou = keep! / hold on to!

You could add jy in some contexts for emphasis, but normally it is omitted in instructions, notices, and labels.

Lees is the verb to read.

In this sentence, it is in the imperative form, so it means Read.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans verbs usually do not change much for different subjects, so lees can appear in several contexts:

• Ek lees = I read / am reading
• Jy lees = you read / are reading
• Lees! = Read!

The meaning comes from the sentence structure.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

It appears before both nouns:

• die terugstuurbeleid = the return policy
• die aankoopbewys = the proof of purchase / the receipt

Afrikaans does not have different forms like English the vs a/an based on gender, and die is very common for the.

So the sentence literally has:

• Read the return policy
• and keep the proof of purchase

Yes. Afrikaans very often forms compound nouns by writing them as one word.

terugstuurbeleid can be broken down as:

• terugstuur = return / send back
• beleid = policy

So together:

• terugstuurbeleid = return policy

This kind of long compound is very normal in Afrikaans, just as in Dutch and German.

Yes, hou can literally mean hold, but in this sentence it means something more like:

• keep
• hold on to
• save

So hou die aankoopbewys means:

• keep the receipt
• hold on to the proof of purchase

This is a very natural use of hou in Afrikaans.

aankoopbewys is another compound noun:

• aankoop = purchase
• bewys = proof

So literally it means proof of purchase.

Depending on context, that may be:

• a receipt
• a proof-of-purchase slip
• some other document showing that you bought the item

So even if the English meaning shown to the learner is receipt, the Afrikaans word is slightly broader: it is literally proof of purchase.

This is normal Afrikaans word order for two linked commands.

Structure:

• Lees die terugstuurbeleid
• en hou die aankoopbewys

So it is basically:

• Read the return policy
• and keep the proof of purchase

Each command starts with the verb:

• Lees
• hou

The word en simply means and.

In practical meaning, it usually means your receipt / the receipt from this purchase.

Even though die is literally the, Afrikaans often uses the definite article in instructions and public notices where English might sometimes sound a bit different.

So in a shop context, hou die aankoopbewys naturally means:

• keep your receipt
• keep the proof of purchase

It does not sound unusually specific in Afrikaans.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

Lees die terugstuurbeleid en hou die aankoopbewys
lease dee trerk-STOOR-beh-LEET ent hoh dee UN-kohp-beh-vace

A few notes:

• ee in Lees sounds like the vowel in see
• die in Afrikaans is usually pronounced like dee, not like English die
• ou in hou sounds roughly like oh
• ui sounds can be tricky for English speakers, but this sentence does not contain the hardest example of that sound

Pronunciation varies a bit by speaker and accent, but dee for die is especially important to remember.

Yes, there are two very useful ones:

1. Commands use the verb directly

   • Lees = Read
   • hou = Keep

2. Afrikaans loves compound nouns

   • terugstuurbeleid
   • aankoopbewys

So this sentence is a good example of two common Afrikaans patterns:

• imperative verb first
• long compound nouns written as one word

These are both worth getting used to early.