Die omgewingsgesondheidspraktisyn gaan plaagbeheer, afvalwater en weggooibare eetgerei na.

Because nagaan is a separable verb in Afrikaans. Its full dictionary form is nagaan, meaning something like check, inspect, or review.

In a main clause, the verb splits:

• gaan goes to the normal finite-verb position
• na moves to the end

So:

• Die omgewingsgesondheidspraktisyn gaan ... na.

But in forms where the verb is not split, you get:

• om ... na te gaan
• hy wil dit nagaan
• dat hy dit nagaan

This is one of the most common things learners notice in Afrikaans word order.

No. In this sentence, gaan is not the ordinary verb to go, and it is not the future helper going to.

Here, gaan is only part of the separable verb nagaan.

So:

• gaan + na together = nagaan
• nagaan = check / inspect / examine / review

That means the sentence is not saying the practitioner is going to do something in the future. It is saying the practitioner checks or inspects those things.

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

You can split it like this:

• omgewing = environment
• gesondheid = health
• praktisyn = practitioner

Together:

• omgewingsgesondheidspraktisyn = environmental health practitioner

A useful rule: in Afrikaans compounds, the last part usually tells you what kind of thing it is. Here the last part is praktisyn, so the whole word refers to a kind of practitioner.

The -s- parts are linking sounds often seen in compounds:

• omgewing → omgewings-
• gesondheid → gesondheids-

Because the adjective is being used before a noun, and in that position Afrikaans often adds -e.

So:

• weggooibaar = disposable
• weggooibare eetgerei = disposable cutlery

Compare the two uses:

• Die eetgerei is weggooibaar. = The cutlery is disposable.
• weggooibare eetgerei = disposable cutlery

This is the difference between:

• predicative adjective: after a linking verb, often no -e
• attributive adjective: before a noun, often -e

Because these are being mentioned as general categories of things being checked, not as specific individually identified items.

So the sentence is talking about checking:

• pest control
• wastewater
• disposable cutlery

Afrikaans often leaves out an article in cases like this, especially with:

• broad categories
• substances or mass nouns
• general institutional or technical terms

If you wanted to refer to specific known items, you could add die in some contexts:

• die afvalwater
• die weggooibare eetgerei

But in this sentence, the article-free list sounds natural.

It is best understood as a collective noun or mass noun, much like English cutlery or tableware.

So eetgerei refers to eating utensils as a group, not usually to one single piece.

That is why:

• weggooibare eetgerei = disposable cutlery / disposable eating utensils

If you want to talk about individual items, you would usually use more specific nouns, such as:

• mes = knife
• vurk = fork
• lepel = spoon

Afrikaans main clauses normally follow the verb-second pattern.

That means:

1. the subject can come first
2. the finite verb comes second
3. other sentence parts follow
4. if the verb is separable, the particle goes to the end

So here we get:

• Die omgewingsgesondheidspraktisyn = subject
• gaan = finite verb part
• plaagbeheer, afvalwater en weggooibare eetgerei = objects
• na = separable particle

This structure is very typical in Afrikaans.

They are also compound nouns.

• plaagbeheer

  • plaag = pest
  • beheer = control
  • so: pest control

• afvalwater

  • afval = waste
  • water = water
  • so: wastewater

Afrikaans forms many technical or formal vocabulary items by combining nouns like this, just as English does.

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

Afrikaans does not use grammatical gender the way languages like German do. So die does not tell you whether the noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter.

A useful beginner rule is:

• die = the
• used with singular and plural nouns in many contexts

Here it means:

• Die omgewingsgesondheidspraktisyn = The environmental health practitioner

So you do not need to learn different forms of the for different genders.