Die versendingsetiket bevat die terugstuuradres.

Die means the.

It appears twice because there are two definite noun phrases in the sentence:

• die versendingsetiket = the shipping label
• die terugstuuradres = the return address

Afrikaans uses die for all genders, and also for both singular and plural nouns, so it is a very common word.

Afrikaans usually writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• versending = shipping / dispatch
• etiket = label

Together they form versendingsetiket.

This is very normal in Afrikaans. English often uses two words where Afrikaans prefers one compound word.

The -s- is a linking letter used in many Afrikaans compound nouns.

So the word is built like this:

• versending
• linking -s-
• etiket

This -s- does not mean plural here. It is just part of how the compound is formed. In Afrikaans, these linking letters are common, but they are not always fully predictable, so it is often best to learn the compound as a whole word.

Bevat means contains or includes.

In this sentence, it connects the subject to what is inside or on the label:

• Die versendingsetiket bevat die terugstuuradres.

So die terugstuuradres is the thing being contained.

Also, bevat takes a direct object, so no extra preposition is needed.

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

So unlike English, where you say:

• I contain
• it contains

Afrikaans keeps the same form:

• ek bevat
• dit bevat
• die etiket bevat

That is why you see bevat, not something like bevats.

Yes. Terugstuuradres is another compound noun.

It is made from:

• terugstuur = send back / return
• adres = address

So the word is literally something like return-send-address, which corresponds to English return address.

Again, Afrikaans likes to build long single-word compounds where English often uses separate words.

Because this is a simple main clause, and Afrikaans often uses subject + verb + object word order in sentences like this.

Here the structure is:

• Die versendingsetiket = subject
• bevat = verb
• die terugstuuradres = object

So the sentence pattern is very close to English.

You need die before both nouns here.

That is because each noun phrase has its own article:

• die versendingsetiket
• die terugstuuradres

Afrikaans does not normally let one die do the job for both noun phrases across the verb.

No. Afrikaans does not use grammatical gender the way languages like German do, and it has far less case marking than older Germanic languages.

So die is just the normal definite article here. You do not need to learn separate masculine, feminine, or neuter forms for this sentence.

Yes. Adres is the normal Afrikaans word for address.

The spelling is simpler than in English:

• English: address
• Afrikaans: adres

So it is an easy word to recognize, even though the pronunciation is a bit different.

Normally, no. In standard Afrikaans, these compounds are written as single words.

So write:

• versendingsetiket
• terugstuuradres

not separate words.

This is a very important spelling habit in Afrikaans, because compound nouns are extremely common.