Ons lees die bouregulasie voordat ons die okkupasiesertifikaat kry.

Because the sentence has two clauses, and each clause needs its own subject.

• Ons lees die bouregulasie = We read the building regulation
• voordat ons die okkupasiesertifikaat kry = before we get the occupancy certificate

So Afrikaans repeats ons just like English repeats we in a sentence such as We read the building regulation before we get the occupancy certificate.

Also, ons can mean both we and us in Afrikaans, depending on context.

This is because voordat introduces a subordinate clause.

In Afrikaans, when a clause starts with a subordinating word such as:

• omdat = because
• terwyl = while
• voordat = before
• nadat = after
• as = if/when

the conjugated verb usually goes to the end of that clause.

So:

• main clause: Ons lees die bouregulasie
• subordinate clause: voordat ons die okkupasiesertifikaat kry

That final kry is normal Afrikaans word order after voordat.

No. Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs.

The verb usually stays the same regardless of the subject:

• ek lees = I read
• jy lees = you read
• ons lees = we read
• hulle lees = they read

And similarly:

• ek kry
• ons kry
• sy kry

So unlike English, Afrikaans does not normally add endings like -s in he gets.

Die is the definite article in Afrikaans, meaning the.

It is used with both nouns here:

• die bouregulasie = the building regulation
• die okkupasiesertifikaat = the occupancy certificate

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans uses die for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

So Afrikaans does not have different forms like the for masculine/feminine/neuter. It is simply die in all these cases.

Yes, bouregulasie is one word because Afrikaans often forms compound nouns by joining words together.

Here:

• bou = building / construction
• regulasie = regulation

Together they form:

• bouregulasie = building regulation

This is very common in Afrikaans, and English speakers often notice that Afrikaans writes many combinations as a single word where English might use two words.

Yes. It is another compound noun.

It is built from:

• okkupasie = occupation / occupancy
• sertifikaat = certificate

So:

• okkupasiesertifikaat = occupancy certificate

Afrikaans uses compounds very freely, so long formal nouns like this are completely normal.

Kry is a very common Afrikaans verb meaning things like:

• get
• receive
• obtain

In this sentence, kry means get or receive:

• ons die okkupasiesertifikaat kry = we get / receive the occupancy certificate

It is an extremely useful everyday verb in Afrikaans, much like get in English.

Sometimes learners wonder about this because both relate to before, but voordat is the normal conjunction when you mean before introducing a clause.

So here:

• voordat ons die okkupasiesertifikaat kry = before we get the occupancy certificate

Using just voor is more often for other structures, especially with nouns or time expressions.

So for this full clause, voordat is the natural choice.

Afrikaans has an indefinite article, 'n, but it is only used when the meaning is a/an.

This sentence uses die because it refers to specific things:

• the building regulation
• the occupancy certificate

So the sentence is definite, not indefinite.

For comparison:

• 'n bouregulasie = a building regulation
• die bouregulasie = the building regulation

With compound nouns in Afrikaans, the main stress is often on the first part of the compound, especially in careful pronunciation.

So you would typically hear something like:

• BOU-regulasie
• okkupasie-ser-ti-fi-KAAT or with noticeable stress near the final part -kaat, depending on the word's natural pattern

For a learner, the most important thing is not perfect stress right away, but recognizing that these are single compound words, not separate words.

Because Afrikaans distinguishes between main clause word order and subordinate clause word order.

In the main clause, the order is straightforward:

• Ons lees die bouregulasie
• subject + verb + object

After voordat, the clause becomes subordinate, so the verb moves to the end:

• voordat ons die okkupasiesertifikaat kry
• subordinating conjunction + subject + object + verb

This is one of the most important sentence patterns to learn in Afrikaans.

It can do both, depending on context.

Ons lees die bouregulasie can mean:

• We are reading the building regulation
• We read the building regulation
• sometimes even a more general present meaning, depending on the situation

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might choose either simple present or present continuous. Context tells you which meaning is intended.