Sy was haar lyf.

She washes her body.

Breakdown of Sy was haar lyf.

• sy: she
• haar: her
• was: to wash
• die lyf: body (informal)

Questions & Answers about Sy was haar lyf.

What does each word in Sy was haar lyf mean?

A word-by-word breakdown is:

• Sy = she
• was = washes / is washing
• haar = her
• lyf = body

So the whole sentence means She washes her body.

Why does was mean washes here? It looks like English was.

This is a very common point of confusion.

In Afrikaans, was is the present-tense verb to wash.
So:

• Ek was = I wash
• Sy was = She washes

It is not the past tense of is, the way it is in English.

If you wanted a past meaning like she washed, Afrikaans would normally use:

• Sy het haar lyf gewas = She washed her body

So in your sentence, was is a verb meaning wash, not an English-style past tense form.

What is haar doing here?