Sonder water sal die plant sterf.

Both are possible, but they have slightly different emphasis.

• Die plant sal sonder water sterf = the more neutral order
• Sonder water sal die plant sterf = puts extra focus on without water

Afrikaans often moves a time, place, or condition phrase to the front for emphasis. When that happens, the finite verb usually comes next. That is why sal comes before die plant here.

So the pattern is:

• Sonder water
  • sal
    • die plant
      • sterf

This is a normal Afrikaans word order rule, not something unusual about this sentence.

This is because Afrikaans follows the verb-second rule in main clauses.

That means the finite verb usually comes in the second position. If something other than the subject is placed first, the verb still stays second, and the subject moves after it.

Here:

• first element: Sonder water
• second element: sal
• then the subject: die plant

Compare:

• Die plant sal sterf.
• Sonder water sal die plant sterf.

In English, we usually keep the subject before the verb, but Afrikaans is more flexible as long as the verb stays in second position.

Sonder means without.

It is usually followed by a noun or noun phrase:

• sonder water = without water
• sonder geld = without money
• sonder hulp = without help

So in this sentence, sonder water is simply a prepositional phrase meaning without water.

Because water is being used as an uncountable noun in a general sense.

Just like in English, you usually do not say:

• without the water unless you mean some specific water

Here, the meaning is general: water as a necessary substance. So sonder water is the natural form.

If you were talking about specific water, you could use die:

• sonder die water in die bottel = without the water in the bottle

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

So:

• die plant = the plant

Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns

Examples:

• die plant = the plant
• die plante = the plants

Unlike some other languages, Afrikaans does not change the article for gender.

Yes. After the modal verb sal, the main verb appears in its basic form, which is the infinitive/base form.

So:

• sal sterf = will die

This is similar to English:

• will die
• not will dies

In Afrikaans, modal verbs like sal, kan, moet, and wil are followed by the main verb later in the clause, often near the end.

Examples:

• Die plant sal sterf.
• Die plant kan sterf.
• Die plant moet groei.

The future is formed with sal + main verb.

So:

• sal sterf = will die

This is the standard future construction in Afrikaans.

Examples:

• Ek sal kom. = I will come.
• Hy sal leer. = He will learn.
• Die plant sal sterf. = The plant will die.

Afrikaans can sometimes use the present tense for future meaning if the context is clear, but sal makes the future explicit.

Yes, but it means something slightly different in feel.

• Sonder water sal die plant sterf = Without water, the plant will die.
• Sonder water sterf die plant = Without water, the plant dies / is dying / will die, depending on context

The version with sal is clearer if you specifically want a future meaning.

The version without sal can sound more like a general truth or a more immediate statement.

Because after a modal verb like sal, the main verb usually goes to the end of the clause.

So the structure is:

• fronted phrase: Sonder water
• modal verb: sal
• subject: die plant
• main verb: sterf

This is a very common Afrikaans pattern.

Compare:

• Ek sal môre kom.
• Sy kan goed sing.
• Ons moet nou gaan.

In each case, the modal comes earlier, and the main verb goes later.

It is singular.

• die plant = the plant
• die plante = the plants

So this sentence is talking about one plant.

If it were plural, it would be:

• Sonder water sal die plante sterf. = Without water, the plants will die.

Yes. Most often sal means will, but it can also express a kind of expectation or prediction, depending on context.

In this sentence, it is a straightforward future prediction:

• Sonder water sal die plant sterf.

So the meaning is simply that the plant will die if it has no water.

Yes, in meaning it expresses a condition, even though it does not use a separate word for if.

• Sonder water sets the condition
• sal die plant sterf gives the result

So it works like:

• If there is no water, the plant will die
• Without water, the plant will die

Afrikaans often uses short condition phrases like this very naturally.

A very literal gloss would be:

• Without water will the plant die

That sounds unnatural in normal English, but it helps show the Afrikaans structure.

Natural English would be:

• Without water, the plant will die.

So the Afrikaans word order is different from normal English, especially because of the verb-second rule.