Ons lees die monteerinstruksies eers.

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change according to the subject the way they do in English.

So:

• ek lees = I read
• jy lees = you read
• ons lees = we read
• hulle lees = they read

That means lees stays lees no matter who is doing the action in normal present-tense sentences.

This is one of the nice simplifications in Afrikaans compared with English.

Die is the definite article in Afrikaans, and it can mean the.

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns

So unlike some languages, the article does not change here.

Examples:

• die boek = the book
• die boeke = the books
• die instruksies = the instructions

So die monteerinstruksies simply means the assembly instructions.

It is correctly written as one word.

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, often forms compound nouns by joining words together. So:

• monteer relates to assembling or mounting
• instruksies means instructions

Together, monteerinstruksies means assembly instructions.

English often writes these as separate words, but Afrikaans frequently combines them into a single longer noun.

Eers usually means first or at first / before anything else, depending on context.

In this sentence, it means that reading the assembly instructions happens before the next step.

So the idea is:

• We read the assembly instructions first.
• Only after that do we do something else.

Afrikaans often places adverbs like eers later in the sentence, so its position here is completely natural.

Yes, in some contexts it can, but the meaning or emphasis may shift slightly.

For example:

• Ons lees die monteerinstruksies eers.
  Neutral and natural: We read the assembly instructions first.

• Eers lees ons die monteerinstruksies.
  This gives extra emphasis to first, a bit like First, we read the assembly instructions.

So the original sentence is very normal, but moving eers can change the focus.

It is close, but not exactly the same for every speaker.

In standard Afrikaans, lees is pronounced approximately like:

• lays with a long vowel, for many learners
• or close to the vowel in English lace, but held longer

The important thing is that it is a long ee sound in Afrikaans spelling.

Also, lees means both:

• read
• reads

depending on context, because Afrikaans does not change the verb form here.

Yes, ons is the normal Afrikaans word for we.

It is also used for us, so Afrikaans does not distinguish between we and us with different forms the way English does.

Examples:

• Ons lees. = We read.
• Hulle sien ons. = They see us.

So ons can mean either we or us, and the sentence structure tells you which one it is.

The ending -s is a strong clue. In this sentence, instruksies is the plural form of instruksie.

So:

• instruksie = instruction
• instruksies = instructions

Because it is plural, the whole noun phrase die monteerinstruksies means the assembly instructions, not the assembly instruction.

Yes. This is a very typical main clause word order in Afrikaans:

• Ons = subject
• lees = verb
• die monteerinstruksies = object
• eers = adverb

So the pattern is basically:

Subject + Verb + Object + Adverb

That makes the sentence straightforward and beginner-friendly.

Yes, depending on context.

Afrikaans simple present tense often covers both ideas that English separates into:

• We read
• We are reading

So Ons lees die monteerinstruksies eers could mean:

• We read the assembly instructions first.
• We are reading the assembly instructions first.

Usually the situation tells you which meaning is intended.