Die lêer oorleef.

Here die is the definite article, meaning the.

Afrikaans does not have grammatical gender like German, so you do not switch between different forms for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns. Die is used for the with both singular and plural nouns:

• die lêer = the file
• die lêers = the files

No. In Afrikaans die is pronounced roughly like dee.

So Die lêer oorleef begins with a dee sound, not the English die sound.

The ê helps show the vowel sound. In Afrikaans, accent marks often give pronunciation information, and they are part of the normal spelling of the word.

So you should learn this word as lêer, not just leer.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• lêer ≈ LAY-er
• oorleef ≈ oor-leef

The exact sounds depend on accent, but that approximation is good enough for a beginner.

Because Afrikaans verbs are much simpler than English verbs in the present tense. The verb usually stays the same no matter who or what the subject is.

For example:

• ek oorleef = I survive
• jy oorleef = you survive
• die lêer oorleef = the file survives
• hulle oorleef = they survive

Unlike English, Afrikaans does not add an -s for he/she/it in the present tense.

Yes.

• leef = live
• oorleef = survive

The prefix oor- adds the idea of getting through or beyond something, so oorleef literally has the sense of live through.

No. This is the normal word order for a simple main clause:

subject + verb

So in this sentence:

• Die lêer = subject
• oorleef = verb

That is why it looks quite similar to English.

Yes. Here it is being used intransitively, meaning the subject simply survives.

But oorleef can also take an object:

• Die lêer oorleef die brand. = The file survives the fire.

So the verb can be used either with or without something after it, depending on the meaning.

You would change the noun to plural, but the article and verb stay the same:

• Die lêers oorleef. = The files survive.

Notice:

• lêer → lêers
• die stays die
• oorleef stays oorleef

For this short sentence, you can say:

Die lêer oorleef nie. = The file does not survive.

Because nothing comes after the verb, the nie appears at the end here.

In longer negative sentences, Afrikaans often uses nie ... nie, for example:

Die lêer oorleef nie die brand nie. = The file does not survive the fire.