Die kalkaanslag verminder die stoomdruk.

Because both kalkaanslag and stoomdruk are definite nouns here, so each one gets die, which means the.

A very useful thing to know is that Afrikaans die does a lot of work:

• singular: die boek = the book
• plural: die boeke = the books
• all genders: Afrikaans does not have different words like German der / die / das

So in this sentence:

• Die kalkaanslag = the limescale
• die stoomdruk = the steam pressure

No. In Afrikaans, die is usually pronounced roughly like dee.

So:

• die ≈ dee

This is a very common beginner trap for English speakers, because the spelling looks familiar but the pronunciation is different.

Yes. Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often writes compound nouns as one word.

So kalkaanslag is a compound noun:

• kalk = lime / chalk / calcium deposit
• aanslag = deposit, buildup, coating, attack depending on context

Together, kalkaanslag means limescale or lime buildup.

English often writes these kinds of ideas as one word, two words, or hyphenated, but Afrikaans strongly prefers a single compound word.

For the same reason: it is a compound noun.

• stoom = steam
• druk = pressure

Together:

• stoomdruk = steam pressure

A helpful rule is that in Afrikaans compounds, the last part is usually the main noun, and the earlier part modifies it. So stoomdruk is a kind of druk.

Verminder is the verb, and here it is in the present tense.

Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs because they usually do not change according to the subject.

So you get:

• Ek verminder
• Jy verminder
• Hy verminder
• Ons verminder

No extra -s like English he reduces.

That means in this sentence, verminder can simply be understood as reduces or is reducing, depending on context.

Yes, the basic verb form is also verminder.

Afrikaans often uses the plain verb stem as the dictionary form, and after certain words it can appear with te:

• om te verminder = to reduce

So learners often notice that the form in the sentence looks the same as the basic verb form. That is normal in Afrikaans.

Because this is a simple main clause with the normal pattern:

• Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• Die kalkaanslag = subject
• verminder = verb
• die stoomdruk = object

This makes the sentence feel very familiar to English speakers.

However, Afrikaans does have important word-order rules. In a main clause, the finite verb usually comes in the second position. In this sentence, that still gives the same result as English.

No, not in the way German does.

Afrikaans nouns do not have grammatical gender like masculine, feminine, and neuter with different articles. That is why both nouns simply use die.

Afrikaans also has much less case marking than older Germanic languages. So learners do not have to change articles the way they would in German.

That is one reason the sentence looks relatively straightforward.

Afrikaans usually uses a double negative with nie ... nie.

So the negative version is:

Die kalkaanslag verminder nie die stoomdruk nie.

A common beginner mistake is to use only one nie. Standard Afrikaans normally needs both parts in a sentence like this.

A natural past-tense form is:

Die kalkaanslag het die stoomdruk verminder.

This uses:

• het
  • past participle

For verminder, the past participle is also commonly verminder.

So the structure is:

• subject + het + object + participle

That is a very common Afrikaans past-tense pattern.

A couple of things may stand out to an English speaker:

• aa in aanslag is a long vowel
• oo in stoom is also a long vowel
• compounds are usually spoken as one unit, but each part still stays fairly recognizable

So if you say them slowly, it helps to hear the parts:

• kalk + aanslag
• stoom + druk

That often makes long Afrikaans compounds much easier to read and remember.