Die termometer wys die maksimumtemperatuur.

Yes. Die is the Afrikaans definite article, and it usually means the.

So in this sentence:

• Die termometer = the thermometer
• die maksimumtemperatuur = the maximum temperature

A useful thing for English speakers: Afrikaans does not change die for gender. You use die for all singular definite nouns, regardless of whether the noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter in other languages.

Because many Afrikaans words are closely related to English or come from similar international roots.

Here, termometer is basically the Afrikaans form of thermometer. The main difference is spelling:

• English: thermometer
• Afrikaans: termometer

Afrikaans often prefers simpler, more phonetic spelling than English.

Wys means shows or indicates in this sentence.

So:

• Die termometer wys ... = The thermometer shows ...

Pronunciation-wise, wys is roughly like vace or vice with an Afrikaans w/v-type sound, depending on accent. The exact vowel is not quite the same as English, but for a learner, the key thing is that it is a short one-syllable verb.

Also, wys is the base verb form. Afrikaans does not usually add a separate -s ending for he/she/it the way English does.

Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs in this way.

In English:

• I show
• he shows

In Afrikaans, the verb usually stays the same:

• ek wys
• hy wys
• die termometer wys

So wys works for all persons in the present tense. That is one of the big simplifications in Afrikaans grammar.

Yes, it is correctly written as one word.

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns by joining words together. English sometimes writes these as two words, sometimes with a hyphen, and sometimes as one word. Afrikaans usually prefers one combined word.

So:

• maksimum = maximum
• temperatuur = temperature
• maksimumtemperatuur = maximum temperature

This is completely normal in Afrikaans spelling.

In a normal Afrikaans main clause, the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

Here the sentence is:

• Die termometer = subject
• wys = finite verb
• die maksimumtemperatuur = object

So the structure is:

Subject + Verb + Object

That is very similar to normal English word order:

The thermometer shows the maximum temperature.

Yes, that would also be possible in many contexts.

• wys = shows, indicates
• toon = shows, displays

In many everyday situations, wys is very natural for instruments, screens, clocks, and measuring devices. For a thermometer, wys is an excellent choice.

That is simply the standard Afrikaans spelling of the word temperatuur.

Many Afrikaans words preserve vowel spelling patterns that may look unusual to English speakers. The uu represents a long vowel sound. You do not need to split it into two syllables; it belongs to the normal pronunciation of the word.

So just learn it as the standard spelling:

• temperatuur = temperature

They take die because they are definite, not just because they are singular.

In this sentence, both nouns refer to specific things:

• the thermometer
• the maximum temperature

That is why die appears before both nouns.

If the nouns were indefinite, Afrikaans might use ’n for singular countable nouns:

• ’n termometer = a thermometer

But in your sentence, both are definite, so die is correct.

Yes.

In Die termometer wys die maksimumtemperatuur:

• Die termometer is the subject
• wys is the verb
• die maksimumtemperatuur is the direct object

It answers the question: What does the thermometer show?
Answer: the maximum temperature

Sometimes Afrikaans can omit an article in certain technical or general statements, but in this sentence die maksimumtemperatuur sounds natural and complete.

With measuring devices, using die often makes sense because a specific reading is being referred to. So for a learner, the full sentence with die is the safe and natural form:

Die termometer wys die maksimumtemperatuur.

Then termometer would become termometers:

• Die termometers wys die maksimumtemperatuur.
• The thermometers show the maximum temperature.

Notice that the verb usually stays the same:

• singular: wys
• plural: wys

Again, Afrikaans verbs are much less complicated than English verbs in this respect.