Die neusblokkie en die brilpoot is op die brilraam.

Because Afrikaans does not change the present-tense form of to be for singular vs. plural.

The verb wees in the present tense uses is for all persons and numbers:

• ek is = I am
• jy is = you are
• hy/sy is = he/she is
• ons is = we are
• hulle is = they are

So Die neusblokkie en die brilpoot is ... is completely normal, even though English would say are.

Die is the Afrikaans definite article, meaning the.

A few useful points:

• Afrikaans uses die for singular and plural
• Afrikaans uses die for all genders
• there is no separate English-style distinction like the for singular vs. plural, or gendered articles like in some other languages

It appears several times because each noun phrase takes its own article:

• die neusblokkie
• die brilpoot
• die brilraam

In die neusblokkie en die brilpoot, both nouns are definite, so repeating die is normal.

Because Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compound nouns as single words.

So instead of writing something like bril raam, Afrikaans joins the parts together:

• neus + blokkie = neusblokkie
• bril + poot = brilpoot
• bril + raam = brilraam

This is a very common pattern in Afrikaans. English sometimes writes similar ideas as two words, hyphenated words, or one word, but Afrikaans strongly prefers single-word compounds.

They break down like this:

• neusblokkie = neus

  • blokkie
    Literally something like nose-pad / little nose block

• brilpoot = bril

  • poot
    Literally glasses-leg or glasses-arm
    Here poot means a leg-like projecting part, so it refers to the arm/side piece of the glasses

• brilraam = bril

  • raam
    Literally glasses-frame

A helpful rule with Afrikaans compounds: the last part is usually the main noun. So:

• a brilraam is a kind of raam
• a brilpoot is a kind of poot
• a neusblokkie is a kind of blokkie

Yes. Blokkie is based on blok and uses a diminutive ending.

In Afrikaans, diminutives are extremely common. They can mean:

• physically small
• a smaller or lighter version of something
• sometimes just the normal name for an object, without a strong emotional meaning

So blok becomes blokkie, roughly small block or little block.

In this sentence, neusblokkie is just the normal term for the small pad/rest on the glasses. It does not necessarily sound cute; it is simply the ordinary word for that part.

Because Afrikaans treats bril as a singular noun meaning a pair of glasses.

So:

• 'n bril = a pair of glasses
• die bril = the glasses
• brille = glasses, meaning multiple pairs

That is why the compounds use bril in the singular:

• brilpoot
• brilraam

This is different from English, where glasses is grammatically plural even when referring to one pair.

Op usually means on.

Here it shows that the neusblokkie and brilpoot are located on or attached on the frame. Afrikaans prepositions do not always match English prepositions perfectly word for word, but op is a natural choice for the idea of being physically on the frame.

So op die brilraam means something like:

• on the glasses frame
• on the frame
• attached to the frame

depending on context.

Yes, the word order is normal.

The sentence follows the basic Afrikaans pattern:

• Subject: Die neusblokkie en die brilpoot
• Verb: is
• Prepositional phrase: op die brilraam

So the neutral order is:

• Die neusblokkie en die brilpoot is op die brilraam.

You can move the location phrase to the front for emphasis:

• Op die brilraam is die neusblokkie en die brilpoot.

When you do that, Afrikaans still keeps the verb in the second position. That is a very important Afrikaans word-order rule.