Die rugsteunkopie is belangrik.

Die means the.

In Afrikaans, die is the definite article used for:

• singular nouns: die rugsteunkopie = the backup copy
• plural nouns: die rugsteunkopieë = the backup copies

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not change the for gender, and unlike some other languages, the article stays very simple.

Afrikaans, like Dutch and German, very often forms compounds by writing them as a single word.

So:

• rugsteun = backup / support
• kopie = copy
• rugsteunkopie = backup copy

English often writes these as two words, but Afrikaans usually prefers one compound word.

Is is the verb to be, just like English is.

In Die rugsteunkopie is belangrik, it links the subject and the description:

• Die rugsteunkopie = the subject
• is = links subject to description
• belangrik = important

A useful thing for learners: Afrikaans uses forms of wees for to be, but in the present tense you very often see is.

Here, belangrik is used after is, so it is a predicate adjective. In that position, Afrikaans adjectives usually stay in their basic form.

So:

• Die rugsteunkopie is belangrik. = The backup copy is important.

But before a noun, adjectives often take -e:

• die belangrike rugsteunkopie = the important backup copy

So the short answer is:

• after is: usually belangrik
• before a noun: often belangrike

Yes, in this sentence it is very similar to English:

• Die rugsteunkopie = subject
• is = verb
• belangrik = adjective/complement

So the pattern is:

Subject + verb + description

That makes this sentence very beginner-friendly.

A helpful rough guide is:

rug-steun-ko-pee

A few notes:

• rug has a guttural g, not an English g
• steun sounds roughly like stayn but with an Afrikaans vowel
• kopie is pronounced roughly ko-pee

If you want a simple English-friendly approximation, you could think of it as:

rukh-stayn-koh-pee

That is only approximate, but it helps at first.

A rough guide is:

be-lang-rik

More approximately for an English speaker:

buh-LUNG-rik

A few notes:

• the g is again the Afrikaans guttural sound
• the stress is usually on the second syllable: lang

Yes. That would mean A backup copy is important.

Compare:

• Die rugsteunkopie is belangrik. = The backup copy is important.
• 'n rugsteunkopie is belangrik. = A backup copy is important.

So the difference is definite vs indefinite, just like the vs a/an in English.

The plural is rugsteunkopieë.

So:

• die rugsteunkopie = the backup copy
• die rugsteunkopieë = the backup copies

Example:

• Die rugsteunkopieë is belangrik. = The backup copies are important.

Notice that is still appears here in normal Afrikaans usage, and belangrik does not change.

Afrikaans is much simpler than many European languages in this area. Nouns do not normally have grammatical gender that changes the article the way it does in languages like German.

So you simply use:

• die for the
• 'n for a/an

That makes sentences like Die rugsteunkopie is belangrik much easier to build.

Yes. Rugsteun can also mean support in a more general sense, depending on context. But in rugsteunkopie, the meaning is specifically backup copy, especially in a technical or computer-related sense.

So in this sentence, the compound clearly points to the meaning backup copy, not just general support.