Ons lees die bouregulasie en verstaan sodoende die bouplan.

Because both verbs have the same subject: ons = we.

In Afrikaans, just like in English, you do not usually repeat the subject if two verbs are joined by en (and) and the subject stays the same.

So:

Ons lees die bouregulasie en verstaan sodoende die bouplan.

literally works like:

We read the building regulation and thereby understand the building plan.

You could repeat ons, but it would usually sound unnecessary here.

Afrikaans verbs usually do not change form for different persons.

So you get:

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

And similarly:

• ek verstaan
• ons verstaan

This is much simpler than English, where you have forms like I read but he reads.

Die is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• die bouregulasie = the building regulation
• die bouplan = the building plan

A useful thing for learners: Afrikaans uses die for both singular and plural definite nouns.

For example:

• die plan = the plan
• die planne = the plans

So unlike some languages, the article itself does not change for number.

Sodoende means something like:

• thereby
• by doing so
• in that way

It connects the second part of the sentence to the first part. In this sentence, it means that by reading the building regulation, we therefore understand the building plan.

So the logic is:

1. Ons lees die bouregulasie
2. sodoende
3. verstaan ons die bouplan

It is a slightly formal or written-style word, but it is completely normal Afrikaans.

Afrikaans often writes compound nouns as one word, much more consistently than English does.

So:

• bou = building / build
• regulasie = regulation
• bouregulasie = building regulation

And:

• bou = building
• plan = plan
• bouplan = building plan

English often separates these words, but Afrikaans usually joins them into a single compound noun.

This is very common in Afrikaans and also in Dutch and German.

The basic word order is the normal main-clause pattern:

Subject + verb + object

So in the first part:

• Ons = subject
• lees = verb
• die bouregulasie = object

Then after en, the second verb phrase continues:

• verstaan
• sodoende
• die bouplan

So the sentence structure is quite straightforward. There is no special inversion here.

A natural way to see it is:

Ons lees die bouregulasie
en
(ons) verstaan sodoende die bouplan.

Because sodoende is functioning as an adverb, and adverbs in Afrikaans are often placed before the object they modify the action toward.

So:

verstaan sodoende die bouplan

means roughly:

thereby understand the building plan

That word order is natural in Afrikaans. If you moved sodoende, the sentence might still be understandable, but this position is very normal.

It is singular.

You can tell because the noun is bouregulasie, not bouregulasies.

So:

• die bouregulasie = the building regulation
• die bouregulasies = the building regulations

The same applies to bouplan:

• die bouplan = the building plan
• die bouplanne = the building plans

The verb verstaan itself simply means understand.

The extra idea of as a result / by doing so comes from sodoende, not from verstaan.

So:

• verstaan = understand
• sodoende verstaan = understand by doing so / thereby understand

That is why the sentence means more than just We read the building regulation and understand the building plan. It specifically says that the understanding happens through the reading.

Yes, fairly literally:

We read the building regulation and thereby understand the building plan.

But in more natural English, you might say:

• We read the building regulations and thus understand the building plan.
• By reading the building regulation, we understand the building plan.
• We read the building regulation and in this way understand the building plan.

So the Afrikaans structure is quite close to English, even if the most natural English wording might vary a little.

The sentence is grammatical and natural, but sodoende gives it a slightly more formal or written tone.

In everyday speech, someone might choose a simpler expression depending on context. But nothing about the sentence is strange or unnatural.

So you can think of it as:

• correct and normal Afrikaans
• slightly more formal because of sodoende

This kind of wording is especially suitable in explanatory, educational, legal, or technical contexts.