In plaas daarvan om te raai, gaan ons die loodsgat na.

In plaas daarvan om means instead of.

It is a fixed expression built like this:

• in plaas van = instead of
• daarvan = of that / of it
• om ... te + infinitive = structure used before another verb

So In plaas daarvan om te raai means Instead of guessing.

Learners often do not need to translate each word separately every time. It is usually easiest to recognize in plaas daarvan om as one useful chunk meaning instead of doing something.

In Afrikaans, after expressions like in plaas daarvan om, you normally use om te before the infinitive.

So:

• om te raai = to guess / guessing
• om te lees = to read / reading
• om te werk = to work / working

This is very common in Afrikaans. English often uses -ing after instead of, but Afrikaans often uses om te + verb:

• Instead of guessing
  → In plaas daarvan om te raai

So even though English uses guessing, Afrikaans uses an infinitive structure here.

This is because the sentence begins with a fronted phrase: In plaas daarvan om te raai.

In main clauses, Afrikaans usually follows a verb-second pattern. That means if something other than the subject comes first, the finite verb usually comes next.

Compare:

• Ons gaan die loodsgat na.
  = We check the pilot hole.

But when the sentence starts with In plaas daarvan om te raai, the verb moves before the subject:

• In plaas daarvan om te raai, gaan ons die loodsgat na.

So this is normal Afrikaans word order.

Yes. Here nagaan is a separable verb.

• full verb: nagaan
• meaning: to check / inspect / go over / verify

In a main clause, separable verbs split apart:

• Ons gaan die loodsgat na.
• Ek gaan dit na.

So:

• gaan = main verb part in the normal verb position
• na = separable particle placed later in the clause

This is similar to how some Germanic languages split verbs.

Important: this na is not the ordinary preposition after/to. It belongs to the verb nagaan.

Here gaan is part of the separable verb nagaan, not the future helper gaan meaning going to.

So this sentence is not saying:

• we are going to check in the future sense

It is saying:

• we check / we inspect / we go over

Because the verb is nagaan, the sentence literally appears as:

• gaan ... na

That can confuse English speakers, because gaan by itself often means go or helps form the future. But in this sentence, it is simply the first part of nagaan.

Loodsgat is a compound noun, which is very common in Afrikaans.

It is made from:

• loods = pilot / guide
• gat = hole

Together, loodsgat means pilot hole.

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often writes compound nouns as one word, where English might use two words:

• pilot hole → loodsgat
• school book → often one compound in Afrikaans
• door handle → often one compound in Afrikaans

So writing loodsgat as one word is completely normal.

The comma separates the introductory phrase from the main clause:

• In plaas daarvan om te raai, = introductory part
• gaan ons die loodsgat na. = main clause

This helps show the structure clearly. In sentences like this, a comma is natural and standard.

Yes. That is a complete sentence by itself:

• Ons gaan die loodsgat na.
  = We check the pilot hole.

The opening phrase In plaas daarvan om te raai just adds extra meaning:

• Instead of guessing, we check the pilot hole.

So the full sentence is basically:

1. an introductory phrase
2. a normal main clause with a separable verb

Yes, raai is a regular verb meaning guess.

Some useful forms are:

• raai = guess / to guess
• ek raai = I guess
• ons raai = we guess
• geraai = guessed

In this sentence, you see the infinitive form after om te:

• om te raai = to guess

So there is nothing irregular here; it is a normal verb used in a very common infinitive pattern.