Die verfroller en verfkwas is skoon.

Die is the definite article in Afrikaans. It usually means the in English.

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans does not change the definite article for gender or number. So die can mean:

• the paint roller
• the paint rollers
• the brush
• the brushes

You work out singular or plural from the noun itself or from the context.

Both are compound nouns, which are very common in Afrikaans.

• verf = paint
• roller = roller
  so verfroller = paint roller
• kwas = brush
  so verfkwas = paintbrush

Afrikaans often joins words together into one compound, just like German and sometimes Dutch.

Because Afrikaans usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

So instead of writing something like paint roller as two words, Afrikaans normally combines the parts:

• verf
  • roller → verfroller
• verf
  • kwas → verfkwas

This is a very normal pattern in Afrikaans, and learning to spot compounds will help a lot with reading.

En means and.

So Die verfroller en verfkwas means The paint roller and paintbrush.

It is the normal word used to join two nouns, just like English and.

Afrikaans uses is as the present-tense form of to be for both singular and plural subjects.

So:

• Die verfroller is skoon. = The paint roller is clean.
• Die verfrollers is skoon. = The paint rollers are clean.
• Die verfroller en verfkwas is skoon. = The paint roller and paintbrush are clean.

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not switch between is and are in the present tense.

Using one die before both nouns is fine here.

So:

• Die verfroller en verfkwas is skoon.

means that both items are definite: the paint roller and the paintbrush.

You can also repeat the article:

• Die verfroller en die verfkwas is skoon.

That version is also correct. Repeating die can sound a little more explicit, but the original sentence is perfectly natural.

Because skoon is a predicate adjective here. It comes after the verb is, just like English clean in is clean.

The structure is:

• subject: Die verfroller en verfkwas
• verb: is
• predicate adjective: skoon

So the word order is very similar to English in this simple statement.

No, not here.

In this sentence, skoon is used after is, so it stays the same. Afrikaans predicate adjectives do not change for singular or plural in this kind of structure.

So you get:

• Die kwas is skoon.
• Die kwasse is skoon.

In both cases, skoon stays skoon.

Usually yes in a sentence like this. Skoon commonly means clean.

Depending on context, skoon can also have related meanings, but in this sentence it straightforwardly describes the tools as being clean.

Because the sentence is talking about one paint roller and one paintbrush, joined by en.

Each noun is singular by itself:

• verfroller = paint roller
• verfkwas = paintbrush

Together they form a compound subject, but that does not make each noun plural.

If you wanted plurals, you would use plural noun forms, for example:

• Die verfrollers en verfkwaste is skoon.
  = The paint rollers and paintbrushes are clean.

Yes. In natural English, that is a very normal translation.

Because verf is built into both compound nouns, Afrikaans makes it clear that both items are painting tools:

• verfroller = paint roller
• verfkwas = paintbrush

English may sometimes repeat paint and sometimes not, depending on style.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

duh FAIRF-rol-ler en FAIRF-kvahs is skoon

A few notes:

• die is usually pronounced more like dee or duh, depending on accent and speed
• verf has an e sound a bit like the e in bed, but followed by rf
• kw in kwas is pronounced, so kwas starts like qu in quick
• skoon sounds roughly like skohn

This is only an approximation, but it can help you get started.

The sentence follows a very simple pattern:

Die verfroller en verfkwas + is + skoon

That is:

• subject
• verb
• adjective/complement

So it is a straightforward descriptive sentence meaning that the two items are in a clean state. This is one of the most common sentence patterns in Afrikaans.