Die dokter ondersoek die vel.

Because die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

In this sentence:

• die dokter = the doctor
• die vel = the skin

Unlike languages such as German, Afrikaans does not change the definite article for gender. So die is used very broadly.

No. Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender the way many European languages do.

That means you do not need to learn different forms like the for masculine/feminine/neuter nouns. The article stays die for definite nouns in ordinary use.

This is one reason Afrikaans grammar is often simpler than Dutch or German in this area.

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

So you get:

• Ek ondersoek = I examine
• Jy ondersoek = you examine
• Hy ondersoek = he examines
• Die dokter ondersoek = the doctor examines

This is much simpler than English, where we say I examine but he examines.

It can often cover both ideas, depending on context.

So Die dokter ondersoek die vel can mean:

• The doctor examines the skin
• The doctor is examining the skin

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might use either the simple present or the present continuous.

If you really want to emphasize an ongoing action, Afrikaans can use other structures, but in everyday sentences the simple form is very common.

Afrikaans usually follows a normal main-clause word order where the finite verb comes second.

So the pattern here is:

• Die dokter = subject
• ondersoek = verb
• die vel = object

This is the standard order for a simple statement.

A helpful way to think about it is:

Subject + Verb + Object

which is very similar to English in a basic sentence like this one.

Vel most commonly means skin.

Depending on context, it can also refer to an animal’s hide or pelt. But in a medical sentence like this, vel clearly means skin.

So learners should remember that the exact English translation depends on context, even though the basic Afrikaans word stays the same.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• die ≈ dee
• dokter ≈ dok-ter
• ondersoek ≈ on-der-sook
• vel ≈ fel or vell with a short e

A few notes:

• Afrikaans die is usually pronounced like dee, not like English die
• oe in ondersoek sounds like oo in boot
• v in Afrikaans is often pronounced close to an English f

Pronunciation can vary a little by speaker and accent, but this will get you close.

Mostly yes. Dokter means doctor.

It is also used as a title, for example:

• die dokter = the doctor
• Dokter Smit = Doctor Smith / Dr Smith

In this sentence, it is just a common noun, so it is not capitalized unless it begins the sentence.

Because Afrikaans does not capitalize all nouns.

Unlike German, Afrikaans only capitalizes:

• the first word of a sentence
• proper names
• certain official titles in specific contexts

So dokter and vel stay lowercase here because they are ordinary nouns in the middle of the sentence.

You would use ’n for a/an:

’n dokter ondersoek die vel.

A few useful points:

• ’n is the indefinite article
• it is written with an apostrophe
• it is not capitalized, even at the beginning of a sentence

So at the start of a sentence, you would usually write:

’n Dokter ondersoek die vel.

Notice that the D in Dokter is capitalized because it is now the first written word with a letter.

No, not in this sentence.

Here die is simply the definite article the.

Afrikaans uses other words for demonstratives, such as:

• hierdie = this / these
• daardie = that / those

So:

• die dokter = the doctor
• hierdie dokter = this doctor
• daardie dokter = that doctor

For doctor, the plural is usually dokters:

• Die dokters ondersoek die vel. = The doctors examine the skin.

For vel, the plural is velle in many contexts, but whether that sounds natural depends on meaning. In medical contexts, people often talk about die vel as an uncountable concept, much like skin in English.

So grammatically you can learn:

• singular: vel
• plural: velle

But in real-life medical usage, the singular is often the more natural form.

Not here.

In this sentence, ondersoek is the main verb of the clause, so it appears on its own.

If you want the infinitive idea to examine, Afrikaans often uses om te with the verb in certain constructions, for example:

• om die vel te ondersoek = to examine the skin

But in a simple main sentence like this, you just use:

Die dokter ondersoek die vel.