Ons lees oor wetenskap.

In this sentence, ons is the subject, so it means we.

A useful thing to know is that Afrikaans uses ons for both we and us, depending on its role in the sentence.

• Ons lees oor wetenskap. = We are reading about science.
• Hy sien ons. = He sees us.

So the meaning comes from the sentence structure, not from a different form.

Afrikaans often does not use a separate verb like English am / is / are when talking about an action happening now.

So lees can mean:

• read
• am reading / is reading / are reading

That means Ons lees oor wetenskap can naturally express what English says with We are reading about science.

This is very normal in Afrikaans:

• Ek eet. = I eat / I am eating.
• Hulle speel. = They play / They are playing.

Yes, lees is the present-tense verb form here.

One of the nice things about Afrikaans is that verbs usually do not change according to the subject the way they do in English. So you get:

• Ek lees = I read / am reading
• Jy lees = you read / are reading
• Hy lees = he reads / is reading
• Ons lees = we read / are reading
• Hulle lees = they read / are reading

So unlike English I read / she reads, Afrikaans keeps lees the same.

Here, oor means about.

So lees oor wetenskap means read about science.

Be careful, though: oor can also mean other things in other contexts, such as over.

Examples:

• Ons lees oor geskiedenis. = We read about history.
• Die kombers lê oor die bed. = The blanket lies over the bed.

So the exact meaning depends on context.

Afrikaans often leaves out the article when talking about something in a general or abstract way.

So wetenskap here means science in general, not a specific science book, science lesson, or science institution.

Compare:

• Ons lees oor wetenskap. = We read about science.
• Ons lees oor die wetenskap van klank. = We read about the science of sound.

In the first sentence, wetenskap is a general idea, so no article is needed.

The basic order is:

subject + verb + prepositional phrase

So:

• Ons = subject
• lees = verb
• oor wetenskap = prepositional phrase

This is a very standard Afrikaans main-clause pattern.

Afrikaans is a verb-second language in main clauses, so the finite verb usually comes early in the sentence. If you move another element to the front, the verb still stays in second position:

• Ons lees oor wetenskap.
• Oor wetenskap lees ons.

That second version is less neutral, but it is grammatically possible.

Lees is pronounced roughly like lace in English, but with a clear s sound at the end.

A rough guide:

• lees ≈ lace

The vowel is long, like ee in some Afrikaans spelling patterns, but the nearest easy English approximation is lace.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

VEH-tun-skhap or VEH-tun-skap

A few notes:

• w in Afrikaans is usually like English v
• the first part weten- starts with a short e sound, like e in bed
• sk is pronounced clearly
• the stress is usually near the beginning: WE-ten-skap

You do not need a perfect accent right away; the most important thing is to remember that Afrikaans w is usually pronounced like v.

Yes. Wetenskap is the normal Afrikaans word for science as a general field or concept.

You can also build longer expressions from it, for example:

• natuurwetenskap = natural science
• wetenskaplike = scientific / scientist, depending on context
• wetenskaplikes = scientists

So in your sentence, wetenskap is a normal and natural choice.

Yes. Lees oor wetenskap is fairly broad.

It could mean:

• reading material about science
• reading an article about science
• reading in general on the topic of science

It does not tell you exactly what is being read. If you wanted to name the object directly, you could say something like:

• Ons lees 'n boek oor wetenskap. = We are reading a book about science.
• Ons lees 'n artikel oor wetenskap. = We are reading an article about science.

So the original sentence focuses on the topic, not the exact thing being read.

Yes. It depends on what you want to say.

Use lees + direct object when you say what you are reading:

• Ons lees 'n boek. = We are reading a book.

Use lees oor + topic when you say what topic the reading is about:

• Ons lees oor wetenskap. = We are reading about science.

So oor is not always required with lees. It is used here because the sentence gives the subject matter of the reading.

The normal negative form is:

Ons lees nie oor wetenskap nie.

Afrikaans commonly uses double nie in standard negation:

• one nie after the verb or later in the clause
• a second nie at the end

So:

• Ons lees oor wetenskap.
• Ons lees nie oor wetenskap nie.

This double-negative pattern is one of the most important features of Afrikaans grammar.