Ons verseël die verhuisdoos teen skimmel.

Yes. In Afrikaans, ons can mean both we and us.

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

• Ons verseël die verhuisdoos ... = We seal the moving box ...

As an object, it can mean us:

• Hy help ons. = He helps us.

So you work out the meaning from the sentence structure, not from a different form.

No. Afrikaans verbs usually do not change according to the subject the way English verbs sometimes do.

So you get:

• Ek verseël = I seal
• Jy verseël = you seal
• Ons verseël = we seal
• Hulle verseël = they seal

This is one of the simpler parts of Afrikaans grammar compared with English or Dutch.

The two dots in verseël are a diaeresis. They show that the vowels are pronounced in separate syllables, rather than blending into one sound.

So verseël is pronounced as separate vowel sounds, roughly like ver-see-əl.

This helps the reader see the word structure more clearly. Afrikaans uses this kind of spelling in some words to guide pronunciation.

Exactly. Afrikaans very often joins nouns together into one compound word.

• verhuis = move / moving house
• doos = box
• verhuisdoos = moving box / packing box / box for moving

This is very common in Afrikaans, much like German and Dutch. Where English often writes two words, Afrikaans often uses one compound.

Yes. Afrikaans uses die as the definite article the, and it does not change for grammatical gender.

So unlike languages that have different forms for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns, Afrikaans uses:

• die man = the man
• die vrou = the woman
• die kind = the child
• die verhuisdoos = the moving box

That makes articles much simpler than in many other European languages.

Yes. Teen often means against, and in this sentence it has the sense of protection against.

So:

• teen skimmel = against mold / from mold

This is similar to expressions like:

• beskerm teen reën = protect against rain
• medisyne teen hoofpyn = medicine for headaches / against headaches

So teen does not always mean physical contact like leaning against a wall. It can also show defense or prevention.

Because Afrikaans uses teen to express that protective idea directly.

English might say:

• seal the box against mold
• protect the box from mold

Afrikaans naturally uses teen in that kind of context:

• Ons verseël die verhuisdoos teen skimmel.

So you should not translate word for word. Think of the whole phrase teen skimmel as against mold or from mold, depending on natural English wording.

In this sentence, skimmel means mold or mildew/fungus growth, depending on context.

It is often used for the kind of unwanted fungal growth you might find in damp places or on stored items. In practical translation, mold is usually the safest choice here.

Context matters, but for a moving box, mold is the most natural interpretation.

Yes. This is standard main-clause word order in Afrikaans:

• Ons = subject
• verseël = verb
• die verhuisdoos = object
• teen skimmel = prepositional phrase

So the structure is:

Subject + Verb + Object + Other information

That is very normal for a simple statement in Afrikaans.

Yes, that would also be grammatical, but it means something slightly different in structure:

• Ons verseël die verhuisdoos teen skimmel. = We seal the moving box against mold.
• Ons verseël die verhuisdoos om skimmel te voorkom. = We seal the moving box to prevent mold.

The first version is more compact and focuses on protection against mold.
The second version explicitly states the purpose: to prevent mold.

Both are possible; the original sentence is just shorter and very natural.

It can be both, depending on context.

Most commonly, verseël means seal in a physical sense:

• sealing a box
• sealing a container
• sealing a crack

But it can also be used in more abstract or formal contexts, similar to English seal:

• ’n ooreenkoms verseël = seal an agreement

In your sentence, it is clearly the physical meaning.

Yes. Depending on context, possible translations include:

• moving box
• packing box
• removal box (more British in tone)
• cardboard box for moving

The literal parts are easy to see, but the most natural English translation depends on the situation. Moving box is usually the best everyday choice.

A natural past-tense version would be:

• Ons het die verhuisdoos teen skimmel verseël. = We sealed the moving box against mold.

Notice the Afrikaans past tense pattern:

• het
  • past participle

Also notice that verseël moves to the end as the participle form in this construction. In many cases, the participle looks the same as the infinitive/base verb in everyday use.

You would usually invert the subject and verb:

• Verseël ons die verhuisdoos teen skimmel? = Are we sealing the moving box against mold? / Do we seal the moving box against mold?

This is a standard way of forming yes/no questions in Afrikaans: Verb + subject + rest of sentence.