Ten spyte van die aftrekking bly die netto salaris hoog.

Ten spyte van means despite or in spite of. It is a fixed expression in Afrikaans.

In this sentence:

• Ten spyte van die aftrekking = Despite the deduction

A useful thing to remember is that van is part of the expression, so learners should treat ten spyte van as one unit.

Examples:

• Ten spyte van die reën, gaan ons uit. = Despite the rain, we are going out.
• Ten spyte van die probleem, werk dit nog. = Despite the problem, it still works.

Die is the definite article in Afrikaans, meaning the.

So:

• die aftrekking = the deduction
• die netto salaris = the net salary

Afrikaans uses die for all genders and for both singular and plural definite nouns, so it is much simpler than many other languages.

You use it twice because there are two separate noun phrases:

1. die aftrekking
2. die netto salaris

Here aftrekking means a deduction, especially a financial one, such as money taken off a salary.

It comes from the verb aftrek, which can mean deduct, subtract, or pull off/away depending on context.

In this sentence, the financial meaning is the important one:

• aftrekking = deduction
• likely something like tax, pension, insurance, or another amount removed from pay

Yes, bly often literally means stay or remain, but in sentences like this it is often best translated as remains.

So:

• bly ... hoog = remains high

This is a very common use of bly in Afrikaans:

• Hy bly kalm. = He remains calm.
• Die pryse bly hoog. = The prices remain high.

So in your sentence, bly shows that after taking the deduction into account, the salary is still high.

Afrikaans follows the verb-second rule in main clauses. That means the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

Here the sentence starts with a fronted phrase:

• Ten spyte van die aftrekking = despite the deduction

Because that phrase comes first, the verb must come next:

• Ten spyte van die aftrekking bly ...

Then the subject follows:

• die netto salaris

So the structure is:

• fronted phrase
• finite verb
• subject
• rest of sentence

That is why you get:

• Ten spyte van die aftrekking bly die netto salaris hoog.

If you started with the subject instead, you could say:

• Die netto salaris bly hoog ten spyte van die aftrekking.

Both are correct.

Yes, netto salaris is a normal and clear way to say net salary.

• netto = net
• salaris = salary

You may also see related payroll terms such as:

• bruto salaris = gross salary
• netto inkomste = net income
• aftrekkings = deductions

In Afrikaans, words like netto often appear before the noun, just like in English:

• netto salaris
• bruto bedrag

Hoog is the adjective describing die netto salaris, and after linking verbs like is, bly, word, adjectives often come after the noun phrase.

So:

• Die salaris is hoog. = The salary is high.
• Die salaris bly hoog. = The salary remains high.

In this sentence:

• die netto salaris = subject
• bly = linking verb
• hoog = predicate adjective

That is why hoog comes at the end.

Yes, you could. If you want to emphasize still, you can say:

• Ten spyte van die aftrekking bly die netto salaris nog steeds hoog.

That means:

• Despite the deduction, the net salary is still high.

The original sentence already implies this idea because bly hoog means remains high, but nog steeds adds extra emphasis.

Most commonly, ten spyte van is followed by a noun or noun phrase:

• ten spyte van die aftrekking
• ten spyte van die reën
• ten spyte van sy siekte

You may also see it before words like dat in more complex structures, but for learners, the safest and most common pattern is:

• ten spyte van + noun phrase

So this sentence uses the most straightforward pattern.

Yes. Afrikaans allows some flexibility, as long as the verb-second rule is respected in a main clause.

For example:

• Die netto salaris bly hoog ten spyte van die aftrekking.
• Ten spyte van die aftrekking bly die netto salaris hoog.

These mean essentially the same thing.

The difference is emphasis:

• starting with Ten spyte van die aftrekking emphasizes the contrast
• starting with Die netto salaris emphasizes the salary itself

A natural rhythm would usually stress the important meaning words:

ten SPYTE van die AFtrekking bly die NEtto salaRIS HOOG

A few pronunciation notes:

• spyte sounds roughly like spay-tuh
• bly sounds a bit like English blay
• netto has a clear t sound
• hoog has a long vowel somewhat like the vowel in Scottish go, not exactly like English hog

Also, in normal speech, function words like van and die are less strongly stressed than content words like spyte, aftrekking, netto salaris, and hoog.

It is fairly neutral and perfectly natural, especially in written or professional contexts such as payroll, finance, or formal discussion.

Why it feels slightly formal:

• ten spyte van is a bit more formal than very casual alternatives
• aftrekking and netto salaris are standard financial terms

But it is not overly stiff. A native speaker would understand it immediately, and it fits well in everyday business language.