Ons studeer wetenskap.

Ons means we in this sentence.

A useful thing to remember is that Afrikaans ons can mean both:

• we (subject): Ons studeer wetenskap.
• us (object): Die onderwyser help ons.

So unlike English, Afrikaans uses the same word for both we and us.

Yes, studeer is the verb: to study.

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change form depending on the subject in the present tense. So you get:

• Ek studeer — I study
• Jy studeer — you study
• Ons studeer — we study
• Hulle studeer — they study

This is much simpler than English, where you have I study but he studies.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Afrikaans often uses the simple present where English might use either:

• We study science
• We are studying science

So Ons studeer wetenskap can describe:

• a general fact or habit
• something happening now

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Because Afrikaans does not need a separate word like English are to form the present progressive in a sentence like this.

English says:

• We are studying science

Afrikaans often just says:

• Ons studeer wetenskap

So Afrikaans is more compact here. You do not need an extra auxiliary verb.

Because wetenskap here means science as a subject or field of study in a general sense.

When talking about school subjects or areas of study, Afrikaans often uses the noun without an article:

• Ons studeer wetenskap. — We study science.
• Sy studeer geskiedenis. — She studies history.

If you said die wetenskap, that would usually mean something more specific, like the science or science in a more definite sense.

This is a very common question.

• studeer = study, especially in an academic or formal sense
• leer = learn

So:

• Ons studeer wetenskap = We study science.
• Ons leer Afrikaans = We are learning Afrikaans.

Sometimes the two ideas can overlap in English, but Afrikaans often keeps them more clearly separate.

Yes. In this sentence, the word order is straightforward:

• Ons = subject
• studeer = verb
• wetenskap = object / what is being studied

So it follows the familiar subject–verb–object pattern:

• Ons studeer wetenskap.
• We study science.

That said, Afrikaans word order can change in other sentence types, especially when something else comes first:

• Vandag studeer ons wetenskap. — Today we study science.

Notice that the verb still stays in the second position.

Because in Afrikaans, common nouns are not capitalized.

So school subjects like wetenskap, geskiedenis, and wiskunde are normally written in lowercase unless they begin the sentence.

This is similar to English in this case.

A rough guide is:

• ons — like ons with a short o
• studeer — roughly stu-DEER, with stress on the second part
• wetenskap — roughly VE-tehn-skap, with w sounding like English v

A few helpful notes:

• Afrikaans w is usually pronounced like English v
• studeer has the stress near the end
• wetenskap has the stress near the beginning

English-style approximations are never perfect, but those will get you close.

Here, wetenskap is singular in form, but it works like science in English: a general subject or field.

So:

• wetenskap = science
• wetenskappe = sciences

In this sentence, the singular form is the natural one because it refers to the subject in general.

You would say:

Ons studeer nie wetenskap nie.

Afrikaans usually uses double negation, so you often see nie ... nie around the part being negated.

That is one of the big differences from English, and learners often need practice with it.

You can say:

• Ons het wetenskap gestudeer. — We studied science.
• Ons sal wetenskap studeer. — We will study science.

So:

• het ... gestudeer gives you the past
• sal studeer gives you the future

This helps show that the original sentence is in the present tense.