Ons wend die glip met die modelleergereedskap aan.

Because aanwend is a separable verb in Afrikaans.

• The full dictionary form is aanwend.
• In a normal main clause, it splits into:
  • wend = the conjugated part
  • aan = the particle that moves to the end

So:

• Ons wend die glip met die modelleergereedskap aan.

This is very similar to separable verbs in Dutch and somewhat like phrasal verbs in English.

A useful comparison:

• infinitive: aanwend
• main clause: wend ... aan

That happens because of how separable verbs work in a main clause.

Afrikaans usually puts the finite verb in the second position, and if that verb is separable, the prefix/particle goes to the end.

So the structure here is roughly:

• Ons = subject
• wend = finite verb in second position
• die glip = object
• met die modelleergereedskap = prepositional phrase
• aan = separated particle

So the final aan is not random; it belongs with wend.

The sentence follows standard Afrikaans main-clause word order:

Subject + finite verb + rest of the sentence + separable particle

So:

• Ons = subject
• wend = finite verb
• die glip = direct object
• met die modelleergereedskap = adverbial/prepositional phrase
• aan = particle from aanwend

This is a very common pattern in Afrikaans.

Afrikaans verb conjugation is relatively simple.

For the present tense, the verb usually does not change much according to the subject:

• ek wend
• jy wend
• ons wend
• hulle wend

So Ons wend simply means we apply/use.

Afrikaans does not have the kind of extensive present-tense endings that many European languages do.

die is the definite article, meaning the.

It appears twice because it belongs to two different nouns:

• die glip
• die modelleergereedskap

Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all genders

So unlike languages such as German or Dutch, you do not need to learn different forms like masculine/feminine/neuter definite articles. Die is the general definite article.

Not necessarily. In this sentence, glip is most likely a technical/artistic material term, especially in a ceramics context.

It can refer to slip, meaning a liquid clay mixture used in pottery or decoration.

So even though English has the word slip in other meanings, here glip is probably a noun for a material, not the everyday idea of slipping on the floor.

This is a good reminder that some Afrikaans words may look familiar to English speakers but be used in a more specialized way.

This phrase tells you how or with what the action is done.

• met = with
• die modelleergereedskap = the modelling tools / the modelling tool set

So the phrase is an instrumental prepositional phrase: it shows the instrument used to apply the slip.

In other words, it answers the question:

With what do we apply it?
→ Met die modelleergereedskap

Because Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns as a single written word.

Here:

• modelleer = model / sculpt / shape
• gereedskap = tools / equipment

Together:

• modelleergereedskap = modelling tools / modelling equipment

English often writes these ideas as separate words, but Afrikaans commonly combines them into one compound noun.

This is very normal in Afrikaans, so long words are often easier to understand if you break them into smaller parts.

Grammatically, gereedskap is often treated like a collective or mass noun, similar to English equipment or sometimes tooling.

Depending on context, it may refer to:

• a set of tools
• equipment in general
• a tool category

So die modelleergereedskap can naturally mean something like:

• the modelling tools
• the modelling equipment

You do not always need a separate plural ending for this kind of noun.

The full infinitive is aanwend.

If you wanted an infinitive construction, you would typically see something like:

• om die glip met die modelleergereedskap aan te wend

That shows the full verb together in infinitive form, with aan and wend belonging to the same verb.

So learners should recognize that:

• wend ... aan in a main clause
• aanwend as the dictionary form

are the same verb.

Yes, that is a very close structural match.

Word by word, it is roughly:

• Ons = we
• wend ... aan = apply / use
• die glip = the slip
• met die modelleergereedskap = with the modelling tools

So for an English speaker, this sentence is actually quite approachable once you understand the separable verb aanwend.

The main grammatical difference from English is the split verb:

• English: apply
• Afrikaans: wend ... aan in a main clause